The Woe of Fallen
by Dagger of Faith
Summary: Something lurks beneath our world. Sequel to The Shadow of Fire.
1. New Scars

**The Woe of Fallen**

 **Chapter 1: New Scars**

* * *

 **A/N: Hello! Welcome to this story. My name's Cynthia, nice to meet you!**

 **If you have not read my other fic, The Shadow of Fire, then you may or will be very confused by this story. This is its sequel. However, I have tried to make it appeal to those who haven't read my mentioned fanfic prior to this. But I highly encourage you to read that one first!**

 **Anyways, here we go. Let us enter into the drama that is the world of RWBY...**

* * *

 _Five Years after the Shadow of Fire Incident..._

* * *

Freezing.

The temperature had decreased rapidly in the cellar. Blake Belladonna sighed as she adjusted her dark coat, sick of all of this waiting around. She should have been back on a plane to Vale hours ago, not stuck in the clinic basement for what felt like a millennia.

"Just one more moment, Miss Belladonna." The clerk coughed as he twisted the lid shut, his aging fingers tapping against the bottle of medicine as his breath was visible in the air.

"Will this be enough?" Blake asked as she brushed her hair aside, golden eyes narrowed on her prize.

"More than." The clerk noted, fixing his lab coat. "If anything, this should hold her stable for at least a month or two, that is until I can send you more prescription. This type of treatment... is very tricky."

"And expensive." Blake growled, tossing the man a small baggy of currency. "Very expensive."

The man weighed the sack, licking his lips in approval. "Anything else, my dear?"

"I'm good, thank you sir." Blake bowed her head and moved off, ready for her trek back to Vale, and out of the unbearable cold.

* * *

Jaune Arc paced back and forth at Vale International Airport, looking up at the arriving listings every few seconds before resuming his pacing.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she sat just beside the anxious boy, legs crossed as she was bundled up in a red winter coat. "Atlas is far away, it could still be hours before her flight gets here."

"I know. I know, but what if it crashes!" Jaune surged with worry, drawing a chuckle from Sun, who sat nearby beside Penny.

"I'm sure Blake will be a-okay." Sun toyed with his staff, wearing his typical garb. Penny was busy looking up at the travel chart, trying to decipher the algorithm they used to prevent air collisions.

"But if she doesn't get here, then what are we going to do about W-"

"Oh don't be a worry wort, bud! Relax!" Sun cracked his neck, relaxing himself.

"Look, Jaune, here we go!" Pyrrha waved her hand as she spotted the noire haired girl moving towards them, carrying a brown duffle bag. "Hello again!"

"Pyrrha!" Blake smiled wide, greeting the girl with a hug as she handed the bag to Sun, the group flocking to the Faunus.

"How was the flight? Did you get everything we need? You weren't scammed were you?" Jaune began to panic before he was smacked on the back of the head.

Nora gave a massive grin as Jaune cringed from the assault on the floor, Ren standing behind her with a blank expression.

"Hey Nora..." Jaune groaned on the floor as Blake laughed, adjusting her coat. "This is much better weather than Atlas, right?"

"Certainly." Blake shivered a little. "How is everything here?"

"Fine." Pyrrha helped Jaune back up to his feet. "Some people have been poking around the Temple but the local police seem to be taking care of it."

The Temple, a dimensional transporter designed by their good friend Orion, built at the center of Vale. Orion was an interesting individual, one Blake looked up to immensely. And not just because he was a God.

The Gods and Goddesses of Remnant, a collective society of extremely powerful beings capable of altering reality, were once a long forgotten legend. Only a handful of tribal monks and scholars deemed insane by their colleagues knew of their existence, that is until little over five years ago.

The world Blake and her friends occupied was assaulted by the God of Destruction, Lord Xalveris. Having had torn the fabric between the realm of the Gods and their own, he sought to end all of existence to fulfill his sick nature. Luckily for everyone, Orion and a band of other Gods fought with Humanity against Xalveris's madness. In the end, Xalveris was destroyed thanks to Weiss Schnee's efforts, preventing the destruction of everything. The Temple was designed to bridge the gap between the Gods and Mortals, allowing Man to learn from their creators.

And now, with Vale rebuilt and the government reinstated, the Kingdom was a thriving community once again.

"Have you heard anything from Ruby or Yang?" Blake asked as Pyrrha shook her head.

"They haven't sent back in years, Blake. I'm sure if they could they would, but all we can do is just wait." Pyrrha sighed as Blake clenched her fist, only to release it moments later.

"Yeah... sorry, it's just this would all be so much easier to deal with if they were here." Blake sighed, shaking her head. "Nevermind that, what about Orion?"

"He's scheduled to visit pretty soon. Maybe a day or two." Jaune adjusted the sword at his belt. "Hope he brings company. All these new Gods we haven't met before is really something."

"It is." Blake bit her lip. "It really is."

* * *

Blake gently knocked on the door of a downtown apartment. The classical looking building stood in slight contrast to the majority of the interior city, which bore much more technological advancements and structures. Biker throwing the local newspaper still roamed the streets as Blake awaited a response.

A thin man answered the door, wearing a coffee stained lab coat. A pair of foggy classes alongside a messy white beard greeted the ninja Huntress.

"Ah! Miss Belladonna!" Doctor Firefall, Chief Medical Advisor at Beacon, stood in the doorway. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, doctor. And you?" Blake asked.

"I'm fantastic, the patient, however, not too hot." Firefall's expression turned from humor to grim, adjusting his glasses. "Do you have the medicine?"

"Yes." Blake reached for the duffle bag from Sun, handing it to Firefall. The doctor opened the bag and withdrew a container holding dozens of tiny multi-colored pills. Firefall gave them a shake before nodding his head, tossing the bag to the floor of the building.

"Miss Belladonna, shall we attend to the patient?" The doctor asked as Blake nodded, turning to her group of friends.

"See you all around then?" Blake asked, everyone nodded in agreement.

"Definitely." Jaune smiled. "Take care. Say hello to her for us."

Blake waved the group off and entered the estate.

* * *

The apartment wasn't the nicest thing she had ever seen, but it did feel slightly like home to her. Ozpin had picked the building out himself, the owner allowing renovations to be made to remake it into a similar design to their old dorm room at Beacon. Even now, Blake still couldn't believe that she had graduated alone without her team. Ruby and Yang had traveled to the realm of the Gods for training and rebuilding what Xalveris and his civil war had destroyed, and Weiss...

"Miss Schnee. We are coming in, okay?" Doctor Firefall spoke aloud to no reply, entering anyways.

The room was an exact replica of their old dorm, down to the floorboards themselves. It was thought that it would be better to insight better times into the former heiress's head.

Weiss Schnee sat alone in the room, resting in a pearl white rocking chair at the center. She wore a gown of icy blue material, staring off blankly into the wall.

Blake noticed the rack of weapons sitting on the wall to her right. Weiss's rapier sat beside a long glassy spear, looking almost hollow. A suit of damaged grey armor, knightly fashion, was held in a glass case in the corner of the room, staring Blake down as she looked away.

"Weiss? How are you doing, dear?" Firefall asked as he set the canister down, kneeling down beside her.

"Weiss." Weiss spoke the single word, gulping as sweat began to form on her forehead. "Weiss is okay."

"Did you get some rest like I asked?" Firefall asked, noticing the dark rings around her eyes had not faded, especially noticeable around her left eye.

"No." Weiss gripped the handles of the chair. "No sleep. Darkness. Bad. Weiss doesn't like the dark. Stay awake."

"You can't keep doing this, Weiss." Firefall sighed, grabbing a bottle of water from a nearby fridge. "You'll get a cold."

"Weiss will be fine." The girl seemed to twitch, growling as her left eye narrowed, her iris altering to a void color.

Blake placed a friendly hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place as she cooed the girl.

"Can we begin?" Blake asked as the color began to grow more prevailing against her eye. "I don't want another outburst."

"Indeed. Keep her still." Doctor Firefall ordered as he took a pill out of the tube, crushing it into the water bottle. The doctor mixed the liquid around, the color changing to night black.

"Dark!" Weiss screamed, struggling violently as Blake held her down in the chair, grunting.

"Well that's unfortunate." Firefall sighed as he tired to remember to buy food coloring later on. "Keep her still, this will only take a minute."

After a few minutes of struggling, Firefall managed to force the girl to down the entire bottle of liquid and drug. Her body twitched violently for several minutes to the point Blake was worried she was dying, but Firefall knew otherwise. Her iris changed back to icy blue all around, slowing her breathing to normal levels.

"Weiss?" Firefall asked hopefully.

Weiss didn't answer, sitting still before shutting her eyes, drifting off to sleep, much to Blake's worry.

In the aftermath of the battle between herself and Xalveris, the pair had been killed by the leader of the Gods, Yveltal. In her death, Xalveris planted the seeds of his own continued existence. By the sheer will of Yveltal, she was granted continued existence, yet at a cost.

In the two years after her resurrection, Weiss changed. Xalveris began to manifest himself as a blob in her left eye, and when he first appeared, Weiss nearly lost her sanity. She was driven into a comatose state, having tried to assassinate Ruby in her sleep under his influence, and up to now, had been lost.

"We will have to see how it affects her psyche when she wakes, but at least she's resting." Firefall scratched his beard. "All we can do now is wait."

Blake sighed, but agreed. "I understand. I just wish we could get her back to normal. It's the least she deserves."

"Mind if I ask if Lord Yveltal was able to examine Weiss?" Firefall asked the Faunus, who shook her head in protest.

"I considered it, but we have no idea how he would treat this, or if anything he does could release Xalveris once again." Blake shifted in her boots. "It's almost like Weiss had become his prison in a sense."

"Let us hope the medicine was worth the cost then." Firefall pulled a blanket over the girl's lap, ushering Blake out of the room.

Blake adjusted her coat as she looked out the window, noticing something odd down the street, a sigil sprayed upon a brick wall.

"Doctor?" Blake asked as he moved towards her, following her pointing finger out to the street.

Remains of spray paint laid sprawled on the grounds besides the wall, made up of many colors. But that wasn't the concerning bit to Blake.

Upon the wall was a emblem of a white featureless girl with a ponytail, a bold red X across the image, dripping like blood. Right below the concerning spray was a defiant grey oval with a C within.

"What is that?" Blake asked in a demanding tone, Firefall going quiet.

"Is that what I think it is?"

Blake nodded, growling menacingly under her voice. "Weiss."

* * *

Blake walked the sidewalk north to the center of the Kingdom, repressing the worrisome image she had seen earlier. Right now all that mattered was she speak to Orion about the developments, and hope he could do something about it.

The Temple was a hub for traffic in both local and international regard. Nearly as popular as the rebuilt-CCT, the Temple attracted visitors from across the globe, everyone pilgriming to the site to see the Gods first-hand.

Blake waved a fancy looking badge at the guard situated at the main entrance, opening the line up for her alone despite the protest of others waiting for their own turn.

The Temple resembled a standard capitol building, a large dome at the center with a large antenna poking up to the sky above. Velvet roped barriers lead citizens down a pathway to the center of the building, where they could meet and possibly, if lucky, converse with a God. However, it was mostly just a hub transport between realities, ready for use at any time.

Blake waited in a private viewing area, arms crossed as she watched the center plate of the transportation device spin ever so quickly. A mixture of Dust and the Ichor or blood of the Gods fueled the device, powering it up as it sought to pull forth visitors into their own reality. The plate began to spark with blue electricity before a bright flash caused everyone to avert their eyes, turning back to see a single man.

Cheering erupted as a man emerged from the plate, waving to the populous with a cocky grin. Wearing a thick black trench coat over a well kept suit, the man ran a hand through his well trimmed ebony beard. His pure golden eyes regarded those around him with judgement and kindness.

"Blake Belladonna!" Orion, the God of Fate, called out to the special area, waving his hand as he moved closer. "Is that you?"

"It is." Blake smiled slightly, shaking her head at his cheerfulness.

Orion, second son of Yveltal, was one of the most powerful Gods they had encountered. He had aided them in the downfall of the sinister White Fang organization, along with saving Vale from impending doom. He had saved their lives on numerous occasions, and Blake had no idea how to repay that debt.

"How are you, dear girl?" Orion smirked as he stayed behind the rope blocking him from Blake. "Everything alright? Haven't been here in a good while."

"It's been a few years." Blake tried to smile, clearing her throat. "When you are done with things here, we need to talk. Urgently."

"About what?" Orion asked as he partially frowned. "What's wrong?"

"It's about Weiss." Blake whispered, looking around. "Meet me at this address."

Blake pressed a piece of paper into his hands, the God nodding as he understood the urgency of the situation.

"Gotcha." Orion gave the Faunus a quick hug before moving off towards the crowd, arms spread wide with a grin across his face as he greeted the people.

Blake walked out the exit doors, heading to the meeting point as quick as possible.

* * *

A lone man dressed in dark rags shook a can of spray paint, standing beside the house of Weiss Schnee. He gently pressed his hand down on the white labeled canister and began to work, not hearing the pressing footsteps behind him as snow made way.

A flash of gold light and a soft whimper ended the vandal, a sword dripping with blood lowered to the ground before retracting. The liquid covered the unfinished sigil he had been making; a woman made of white with a long ponytail.

The owner of the sword looked up to the apartment Weiss resided in, flicking his hand as he pocketed a golden pen rather than a sword. Adjusting his hood, the swordsman decided to move off down the nearby alleyway, into the unlit path before disappearing into darkness.

* * *

Coming Soon:

The Woe of Fallen: Chapter 2: Resurrection


	2. Resurrection

**The Woe of Fallen**

 **Chapter 2: Resurrection**

 **A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the ton of support for the very first chapter! Trust me, this is going to be 3 times better than the original, so get ready for a fun ride!**

 **Onto the recent reviews!**

 **Reviews:**

 **Darkstar6195: Yep!**

 **andy2396: Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy it!**

 **Trewill91: Nope! None at all!**

* * *

Quaking.

In the ground below the city of Vale, hundreds upon hundreds of miles deep at the planet's core, sat a massive Dust shard. The rainbow of colors lit up the cavern it resided within, shining with an abundance of energy and goodwill.

Several white Beowulfs, ancient according to their looks and bone structure, stood below the massive core. Their eyes were transfixed upon its beauty, almost in a hypnotic state of mind.

A massive pincer grasped the shard tightly, protecting it from the Beowulfs as the creatures began to howl. The source of the pincer was a pair of red slits, peering in from the darkness, which clicked as it spoke in an ancient tongue. The Beowulfs ceased their chattering in favor of listening, all bowing down to the creature's words.

The group of wolfs bolted from the cavern as the pincer let the shard go, allowing it to hover at the center of the world once more. The being inspected the shard before it sunk back into its hole, resting and tending to old wounds.

* * *

Blurry.

Blurry was the only way to describe how she felt. Her mind was numb and disoriented, struggling to put into view the objects before her. She knew where she was and how she got there, but why, well that was another story all together. Her skin felt cold to the touch, almost as if she had been frozen in a block of ice for weeks. A soft blanket covered her lap, keeping her ever so lightly heated from the decreasing temperature inside of her.

Weiss could recall why she felt the way she did.

Xalveris.

That beast of a man, the scourge of her being, and the bane of her existence.

He made her what she was now. A cold, waiting corpse on the verge of going under.

She could feel him inside of her, trickling through her blood stream. She was his icy prison, she knew that now.

She could hear faint whispering in her ears, the same voice from that night Ruby left her. The reason she never came back to visit her in her dying state.

As Weiss's vision began to clear up, she could make out bits and pieces of the room around her. Her bunk bed, the low bunk as the others were meant for her team, was as proper as it always was. No mess was to be made there, she assured the cleaners of that back when she was able to function somewhat. A golden pen sat in solitude on her desk, a reminder of what she had accomplished in the wake of her victory against the God of Destruction. A small victory, at least. She wished it was permanent.

A small black box sat on the back of the desk, covered in dust as it hadn't been touched in ages. She knew the contents withering within. All it held were false hopes and broken dreams. That life wasn't for her.

Nor was the one laid out by her father.

Winter ended up taking over as the head of the Schnee Dust Company. Her father saw to that in the wake of Weiss's state. He was getting too old for the line of work, and a military mind like Winter was the perfect fit. At least they tried to visit every so often. Work did get in the way, and Weiss could never fault them for that.

Her breathing quickened as she saw a picture frame at the top of a nearby dresser, just at her head level. A photo sat within the confines of the case, the glass frame shattered in places as if it had been thrown at the floor.

A photo of team RWBY. Year one at Beacon Academy.

Weiss calmed herself as she looked away from the picture, feeling returning to her mouth. The former heiress licked her lips for the first time in what felt like forever, not that she hadn't done so recently, but this time, she could move herself. Control felt returned to her.

After a few minutes of moving around in her chair, Weiss wanted more. Tears ran down her face as she put pressure on her feet, the idea of walking feeling foreign to her. As she let go of the handles to the chair, she instantly plummeted to the floor below.

Weiss whimpered as she tried to get back up, her lower lip bleeding a bit as she put her hands back on the rocking chair. A few minutes later the girl managed to pull herself back into the safety of the chair, not wanting to leave.

"Pathetic." Weiss herself spoke for the first time in three years, her voice her own as opposed to the puppet Xalveris controlled.

" _Pathetic_..."

* * *

Tension.

Blake crossed her arms as she conversed with Orion in the night, leaning against a brick wall as her eyes lit up the darkness. Her night vision enabled her to scan Orion over with finesse, noticing the clear look of worry across his usually cheerful face.

"So that's how it is, huh?" Orion asked as Blake finished her report. "Firefall said he has done his best?"

"Without the experimental medicine I managed to track down in Atlas, he felt this was beyond his medical expertise. No one has ever seen something like this, Orion." Blake sighed in defeat. "You haven't seen anything in your visions?"

"Nothing about her, no." Orion admitted. "My powers aren't infinite, that's Yveltal you're thinking of."

"Right, my bad." Blake sighed. "Sorry. It's just that she is all I have left of my friends... and I don't want to lose her."

"We won't lose her. All we can do right now is wait and, ironically, pray for her recovery." Orion chuckled to himself. "So is this all you needed to speak to me about? I sense something more."

"Yes." Blake felt a shiver down her spine. "Someone has been vandalizing property across Vale, to my knowledge at least."

Orion raised a brow. "Aren't police a little more qualified to deal with mere thugs?"

"There's more." Blake admitted. "The sprays are of a woman in white. With an X across her body."

Orion froze, narrowing his eyes. "I don't think I understand."

"Someone is targeting Weiss, I'm sure of it now." Blake looked around carefully. "I thought maybe I was thinking too much into it at first, but after seeing so many..."

A series of potted plants dropped from above as both Blake and Orion were startled into action. The duo looked up to see a man standing on the ledge of Weiss's window, panicking as he leapt to the opposing roof.

"Check Weiss!" Blake panicked as she jumped wall to wall, flipping up onto the roof as she made chase for the individual. Orion snapped his finger and was instantly inside the house, bolting up the stairs to her room.

Blake leapt over a rail as the mystery man turned and opened fire on her with a small SMG, blasting apart a series of vents as Blake drew her own pistol. The Faunus flipped over a flight of emergency stairs as she fired off three shots, two hitting their mark into what appeared to be a backpack. The gunman wasn't phased as he kept pressing on, tripping over a ledge as he landed safely on the other building.

The Faunus leapt off of a nearby antenna, using it as something to really put pressure on as she rocketed herself toward the man. Blake rolled as she swooped her leg downwards and knocked over the gunman, kicking his gun to the side as she engaged.

The man flicked his wrist and summoned forth a small butchers knife, slashing wildly as Blake weaved in and out. The cat-like girl flicked her own hand back, springing her nails forwards to act as claws as she sliced across his chest, hitting something metal. Her fist clenched in pain as he swiped his blade across her chest, cutting into her shirt as he pulled forth a can of pepper spray, blasting her in the eyes. Blake dropped to her knees in pain as she was disoriented, the gunman upon her for the killing blow.

A sharp cut through air and a grunt followed as Blake's Aura worked to heal her vision, eventually showing her the situation around her.

The gunman laid dead just a few feet away, his throat slit clean across. Crimson blood dripped down his back and chest, coaxing his attire in his essence.

Blake examined him over as she messed with her aching eyes, noticing something odd about his backpack.

Then it hit her. The metal. The wiring. It wasn't a backpack.

It was a bomb vest.

* * *

Blake crashed through Weiss's bedroom window, ready in a combat stance as she saw Orion holding Weiss still. The girl was absolutely still in his arms, dead asleep as Blake lowered her katana.

"Is she alright?" Blake asked as Orion nodded.

"She's well. Tuckered out I guess. Not a wound on her at least." Orion sighed in relief. "Did you catch our mysterious friend?"

"More like mysterious bomber." Blake growled as she crossed her arms. "He had a bomb vest on, ready to detonate at a few moments notice. We are lucky for her plants. Had that not happened..."

"Bomb vest?" Orion asked, very concerned. "What's his status?"

"Dead." Blake raised her hands in defense. "Not by me though. Someone else was there, then gone the next moment."

"This is bad news." Orion clenched his teeth, gently setting Weiss down in her bunk. "Let's take this conversation out of the room. Let the girl rest."

Blake nodded and followed Orion out, giving Weiss one last look over before closing the door shut.

"We need help." Blake sighed. "The few of us there are here isn't going to keep her safe. I want someone watching over her."

"I'll make a call to Ozpin." Orion made himself to remember to do so. "Right now, get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, raising a brow.

"We are going to go looking for this bomber's buddies."

* * *

 **Coming Soon:**

 **The Woe of Fallen: Chapter 3: Fangs**


	3. Fangs

**The Woe of Fallen**

 **Chapter 3: Fangs**

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you all again for all the support!**

 **Reviews:**

 **Trewill91: :3**

 **andy2396: Who knows! And thank you so much!**

* * *

Concern.

Blake bit her lip as she waited outside the Temple's back door. Her last phone call with the man in charge of the Temple ended very abruptly, and abruptness wasn't something she wanted on her plate at the moment.

"Blake?" Pyrrha asked as Blake snapped out from her trance, looking to the decorated warrior behind her. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Blake nodded her head, adjusting her katana on her back. Gambol Shroud had seen better days, but it still swung true in the heat of combat.

Pyrrha wore her armor under her winter coat, shivering slightly as a gust of wind blew past.

"That's good." Pyrrha smiled. "We can't have you of all people stressed out, can we?"

Blake gave a hopeful smile in return as the back door was unlocked, a young monk standing in the doorway.

"Ah, Blake. Come on in."

The caretaker of the Temple was a young man by the name of Feng. He had aided Blake before on numerous occasions in both the destruction of the White Fang and the attack on Vale. He was a good friend, very dedicated to the cause of the Gods. He was a monk after all.

"You told me you had something to talk to me about, security wise?" Feng recalled as he sat down at a long table in the back of the facility, dozens of camera monitors set up upon a nearby wall. Pyrrha inspected the different angles as Blake conversed with the monk.

"Why did you hang up on me? I was terrified something had happened." Blake scowled as Feng remained with a blank expression he almost always bore.

"I simply had to deal with a pressing emergency. A few hooligans messing with the security staff." Feng waved her concern off. "Besides, I did pay attention to your words."

"I need to know about the recent incidents here." Blake demanded. "Pyrrha told me the local police are investigating people poking their noses around here, right?"

"That is true." Feng nodded, his orange robe defiant in the rather dark room. "We have had several incidents of people getting too close to the transporter or other vital materials."

"I'm concerned this isn't a random string of events." Blake's ears twitched as the temperature lowered in the room. "Can you describe the people for me?"

"Certainly." Feng nodded his head. "All of the incidents involved various Faunus men and women, into their early twenties by the report. Each wore the same style clothing and bore a similar backpack, which was the concerning bit."

"Backpack?" Pyrrha echoed as she looked at one of the monitors, tilting her head.

"A backpack?" Blake frowned. "That's not possible."

"What do you mean?" Feng asked.

"Weiss's house was attacked last night by a similar assailant. When I caught up to him he had the exact set up you are speaking of." Blake stood up. "Something is going on in this Kingdom. Something sinister."

"But what do they have to gain coming here-"

A massive explosion shook the entire complex, screaming ringing out as Pyrrha pointed to one of the monitors.

"Backpacks!" Pyrrha shouted as she pointed to a few monitors. "All over the place!"

Several men and women wearing all black robes leveled military-grade auto rifles, firing off into the air as citizens fled for safety. The area where the detonation had occurred was towards the main gate, blasting a huge hole in the defenses of the building.

"We need to act." Feng stood up. "Now."

"I'll take the few by the transporter." Blake pulled out her katana. "Pyrrha, help Feng with the evacuation."

"Got it." Pyrrha dropped her coat to the ground and bolted off with Feng to the back exit, Blake kicking into a nearby vent before crawling along the complex.

* * *

The gunmen ran freely inside the complex, hooking up explosives across the entire structure as they sought to take the place down.

One of the men turned down a corridor towards the control room, ready to temporarily disable the transporter until they could get the entire system offline. Each one wore bomb vests as they worked, ready to make the ultimate sacrifice at any time.

The lone man entered the control room, kicking down the door before firing at the workers stationed there, clipping one in the leg. The pair of workers hid under the desk, tending to the others wound as the Faunus laughed.

"Pathetic." The gunman reloaded his auto rifle, dropping a magazine to the floor.

Blake dropped from the ceiling with katana in hand, slashing in the air with fine tuned accuracy. The auto rifle split at the end of the barrel, the girl spinning before slamming her boot into the gunman's face.

Blake sheathed her katana as she checked on the wounded worker, ushering them out the back exit. Blake returned quickly and examined the bomb vest the man had been wearing.

"There's the control system." Blake muttered as she positioned the exact location of the control unit in her mind, pulling the device off of him before breaking the system, disabling the bombs.

Blake left the unconscious man where he was, leaping over a railing before running down to the main floor. She quickly fired off several shots from her pistol configuration of Gambol Shroud, taking down one gunman whilst hitting another in the control unit. The two dropped as she leapt off the wall, spinning before cracking her foot into the neck of another. Blake dispatched the remaining control pieces before moving on, heading towards the main gate.

* * *

Blake arrived to see a group of gunmen being taken out by Pyrrha, Feng ushering out the nearby citizens to the open street. Pyrrha spun and threw her shield like a disk, cracking two men in the heads before it returned to her arms, nearly cutting a woman in half with her spear as she tore off her vest, throwing it in the air as it detonated harmlessly.

"Aim for the glowing light!" Blake shouted as she fired on a nearby man, breaking the unit before knocking him down with the blunt bottom of her sword.

As the trio finished off what felt like the last of the men they all looked around to inspect the damages. Blake kicked over one of the bodies of the gunmen, growling as she saw they were all Faunus.

'I _t can't be_.' Blake thought, clenching her fists as she turned around at the crunch of grass.

The last remaining gunman bolted forwards with his hand on his detonator, ready to sacrifice himself. Pyrrha quickly twirled her spear and fired her rifle off at the man, hitting him with several Dust infused bullets. In his last act before dying, the falling bomber pressed down on the detonator, vaporizing the entire area around him within a twenty meter radius.

Or he would have, had Orion not intervened.

The explosion was contained within a bubble of Aura generated energy, holding the sheer power of the detonation in a confined space before the bubble collapsed on itself, disappearing into nothing.

Orion lowered his right hand, sighing as he caught his breath.

"You kids had me worried there for a second!" Orion gasped for breath, hands on his knees as he stood tall a moment later.

"Lord Orion." Feng bowed his head, Orion following suit.

"Ah, Feng." Orion smirked. "Sorry about the damages."

"Not an issue." Feng smiled slightly, looking around at his damaged property that he would inevitably need to have repaired.

"Thank you, Orion." Blake sheathed her sword once again onto the covering connected to her back. "I owe you one."

"More than one." Orion teased, crossing his arms as his gold eyes examined the scene. "What are the damages?"

"Let us go see. The authorities will deal with the mess, as I do not doubt they are on their way." Feng usher the four into the main building of the complex.

* * *

Upon entering the stage for the transporter, Blake instantly felt a drop in the pit of her stomach. The whole place was rigged to blow, unsure of where to even begin as wiring crossed every few feet into another device. Her eyes darted between blinking units as she struggled to even think what to make of this.

"This is interesting." Orion hummed as he looked at the weapons. "Odd."

"What's odd?" Pyrrha asked as she found a detonator, handing it to Blake for safe keeping.

"This isn't Mortal tech." Orion frowned, messing with one of the bombs.

"Hey!" Blake nearly pressed the red button on the detonator as she moved over to stop him. "We can easily be killed in this situation, thank you very much."

"Hey, relax Blake." Orion flashed her a cocky grin. "I've got this in the bag."

Orion toyed with the device, managing to free it from the wall. The deity looked inside of the box, eyes darting around at how complex the weaponry was. It was indeed remarkable.

"Some of this is Dagonus's tech. Back when his army invaded." Orion frowned as he put the device back on the wall where it once had been.

Pyrrha was confused. "I thought all of the bodies and technology was confiscated and locked away."

"It appears not to be the case." Blake looked to Orion. "We will need to speak to Ozpin about this. He was in charge of the process of removing the weaponry from the battle. He may know more about how our friends here are so well armed."

"For a bunch of advanced thugs, they aren't too smart." Feng looked around at their handiwork, pointing to a device laying on the ground nearby. "Looks important."

Blake walked over and plucked the disk up, weighing it. She knew it was Dust infused by its weight and texture, tapping its surface before it lit up bright red, causing her to drop it to the floor below.

Blake felt her heart rate accelerate, eyes wide as she took a step back in a panic.

A sinister logo stared back at her, taunting as she felt she was going to pass out.

"Oh dear." Orion stopped what he was doing to look her way, ready to catch her if she fainted.

The White Fang logo scowled at the cat Faunus, packed within the churning hole of a set of grey gears in constant motion.

* * *

Annoyed.

Weiss groaned as she looked at the pills nearby. She wanted so badly to not take them, but every time she did, within a quick nap, she felt the same again. Her states of panic at the color of the drink still remained, but the processed seemed less harsh from the last. Her eyes felt normal as the used to, feeling returning to her body at a greater rate.

Weiss stood up slowly, using the handles as a crutch to keep her up. Her feet still didn't listen to her legs, nor did her legs listen to her center of gravity. Her whole body felt like it had been through a vacuum cleaner.

Weiss pushed off the chair to the nearby table holding the pills. The heiress saw at least four remaining on the table. Left overs, as Firefall had not returned from his testing to leave more. Weiss pocketed the pills herself, holding one out as she looked it over.

" _Free_..." Weiss spoke to herself, smiling widely as she felt tempted to take the pill, would a second one really hurt that much?

A sharp pain registered in her mind as she dropped the pill, falling to the floor with a crash. A series of footsteps echoed loudly before her bedroom door thundered open.

"Weiss!" An older man spoke out in concern, helping her up gently.

"Morris..." Weiss groaned as she felt like she would pass out, being placed in her chair once more.

Morris, one of Weiss's old friends, was a reinstated member of the Vale Special Forces. The man was of bold and solid build, looking slightly aged but still kicking. His greying hair was trimmed down to a soldier's cut, looking as professional as possible.

"You're going to be alright. Just get some rest." Morris smiled. "I'm sure Blake will be ecstatic to see that you're alright."

"Thank... you." Weiss sighed as she rested her head on the top of the chair, snuggling up with her blanket.

Morris looked around the room before returning to his post outside the door, cradling a rifle as he leaned against a closet door, humming a tune to himself.

* * *

Blake sat at one of the clockwork chairs at the front of Ozpin's desk, arms crossed over her lap as she waited beside Orion, who had his feet kicked up on Ozpin's desk. Ozpin himself stood at the back of the room behind the desk, arms clasped behind his back.

Looking out the window, Ozpin cleared his throat. "It is true I was in charge of overseeing the transportation of the remains of Dagonus's army, yet something else also was at hand."

"What could be more important than that?" Blake asked as she raised a brow, shifting herself in her seat.

"The Grimm." Ozpin explained. "I am still dealing with the same issue I did five years ago. The Grimm have been acting strangely since the demise of Xalveris, almost as if they are establishing a territory beyond our walls. And that is something that cannot be allowed."

"So what happened to the weaponry then?" Orion asked.

"I had the Vale Council take the project themselves, who then contracted it to Origin Industries." Ozpin went on, looking at the pair carefully. "They appear to have the answers you seek."

"Origin Industries?" Blake asked as she was unfamiliar with the name.

Orion shrugged. "Haven't heard of them."

"Their headquarters are actually located here in Vale if you seek to visit yourselves." Ozpin suggested, bringing up their location on a map. "Here. This is where you will find them. A large skyscraper, you can't miss it."

Blake stood up and nodded to Ozpin. "Thank you, sir."

"Anytime, Miss Belladonna. Do say hello to Miss Schnee on behalf of myself and the rest of the staff here at Beacon." Ozpin smiled as he showed the two out, returning to his desk to view the recent Grimm activity.

"Yes." Ozpin muttered as he ran his fingers though the holographic map, which shivered at his touch. "How very interesting."

Ozpin turned away as the map displayed a massive anomaly beneath Vale, dwarfing even an adult Grimm Dragon in size.

And it was moving.

* * *

 **Coming Soon:**

 **The Woe of Fallen: Chapter 4: Fall**


	4. Origin Industries

**The Woe of Fallen**

 **Chapter 4: Origin Industries**

 **A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you all are well and enjoy this dramatic chapter!**

* * *

 **Reviews:**

 **andy2396: Who knows what it could be! Thanks!**

 **Trewill91: Yeah! I'm going to try to be more moderate with them. Had issues with that last story over all. Thanks!**

* * *

Awe.

Blake had to admit to such. Origin Industries headquarters was nothing to laugh at. The building was of incredibly sound design, towering over much of Vale. She hadn't seen anything like it since Weiss allowed her to visit the main SDC facility is Atlas.

The mostly glass structure housed dozens upon dozens of specialized floors designed to range from weapons testing to medicine manufacturing. Blake had to say that just by the simple look of the place, in addition to a majority Faunus staff, it was far better than the Schnee Dust Company.

"Hello!" A young rabbit Faunus perked up at the round front desk, eyes full of good intent. "How may I assist you two on this wonderful day?"

"Hello miss." Orion smirked, leaning on the desk. "We would like to speak to the man or woman in charge, if you could kindly point us in the right direction."

The woman frowned for a minute before reclaiming her smile.

"Sorry sir, but our CEO is currently not taking meetings at the moment. Can I take a message?" The woman offered with a kind look.

Blake shook her head. "It's very urgent."

"Like I said, miss, I can take a message if need be. But I have been ordered not to allow anyone to speak to him. He is a very busy man." She explained, holding a pen up. "Would you like to make an appointment?"

"No need, Jessica." A man spoke from behind the pair of God and Faunus, those in question turning to face the voice.

A well built man stood just in front of the entrance doors, wearing a simple pair of black dress pants and a grey-ish dress shirt, the buttons all the way up save for three at the top, with a black shirt underneath. A loose white tie sat around his collar, mirroring his white combed hair and dark purple eyes.

"Hello." The man spoke with a smile, offering a handshake to both Blake and Orion, who took the gesture in acceptance moments later. "I am Isaac Menteur, the founder and CEO of Origin Industries. It is very nice to meet you both. May I get your names?"

"Blake Belladonna." Blake offered as she nodded her head.

"Orion." Orion shook his hand tightly, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Ah! That's quite the grip you have there, Orion." Menteur laughed as he shook his hand to his side for a second to force the light pain away. "Now what can I do for you both?"

"We were wondering if you could speak with us about the clean-up after the invasion of Vale." Blake explained, noticing something odd at the top of his white hair.

"I don't see why not." Menteur smiled happily. "We here at Origin Industries are very open people. Come, let us converse in my office."

* * *

Comfort.

Weiss coughed into the blanket she snuggled with, drifting in and out of consciousness as she tried to get more calm and peaceful sleep. Her body urned for rest, having not had such a luxury in the longest time.

Morris still stood at the doorway, cracking his stiff neck as he walked down the stairs to get Weiss something to eat. He figured she would be awake soon, and if she was anything like her friends, she had quite the appetite.

The special forces soldier cut up an apple into thirds, removing the core before chopping the remains into smaller bite-sized pieces. The man took several plates out from her cupboard and arranged them into neat piles, chucking as he felt like a father again.

Morris withdrew his phone and dialed up Blake's number, raising the device to his ear with a free hand.

* * *

Blake felt a vibration in her pocket as the trio rose up in an elevator. The Faunus girl raised her Scroll to her ear, carefully listening to the source.

"Hello Morris." Blake spoke as Menteur conversed with Orion.

" _Hey Blake_." Morris spoke on the other end, sounding like he was closing a drawer. " _Got some good news._ "

"And that is?" Blake questioned.

" _Weiss is awake, or did wake up earlier. She seems as fine as ever. A little weak, but fine as can be otherwise. She taking a nap now_." Morris explained the situation as he poured a glass of milk.

"Excellent!" Blake perked up. "That's fantastic news."

" _All is well here. Nothing amiss so far. I'll keep you updated_." Morris spoke before saying his goodbyes, hanging up as he head upstairs.

Blake pocketed her Scroll and looked to Orion.

"Weiss is awake." Blake smiled, standing with glee on her face. "And she appears to be in good shape."

"That's great!" Orion grinned, happy for the young girl before him.

"I'm sorry?" Menteur asked, raising a brow. "Who is Weiss? A friend of yours?"

"She is. She had been sick for quite some time." Blake explained in as little detail as possible.

"Well I wish to congratulate you on her welfare!" Menteur smiled as the door dinged open, entering into a massive room filled with white furniture and Grimm statues.

Menteur sat down at a long desk, sitting in his personal office chair as he relaxed in its comfort.

"Now!" Menteur clasped his hands together. "What can I do for you both regarding the project we took on?"

"We were wondering where the objects recovered were stored." Blake pressed as Menteur hummed.

"I can not give specifics on our locations for security purposes, but alas, I couldn't tell you if I wanted to." Menteur sighed.

Blake frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The shipments attacked by a group of thugs and stolen. We haven't seen anything since." Menteur admitted.

"Since when?" Orion asked as he scratched his chin.

"Four years ago." Menteur sighed as he held his hands up in defense.

" **Four** _years_?!" Blake's eyes went wide.

"To be fair, I did contact Vale's Council and the Queen herself to talk about the issue. They have been looking ever since." Menteur explained himself.

"Why weren't we told about this?" Blake asked as Orion narrowed his eyes.

"I'm sorry?" Menteur apologized. "Who do you represent again?"

Orion cleared his throat. "God of Fate?"

"Ah! That explains the pressure I am feeling!" Menteur laughed it off. "Your Aura levels must be impeccable!"

"Back to the topic." Blake offered as the white haired CEO turned his attention to her. "Who stole the materials?"

"From what the security footage caught, it appeared to be a group of five. One bore flames incarnate and incinerated the defenses. We were robbed blind." Menteur sighed. "I am sorry for not being able to assist you much."

"It's quite alright." Blake sighed before she noticed a shifting of his hair. "What was that?"

Menteur felt the tip of his head.

"It appears the binds were loose." The man sighed as a pair of wolf ears poked upwards to the sky.

"You're a Faunus?" Orion asked as one of the ears was severely damaged.

"More or less, yes." Menteur spoke. "Most workers here are Faunus, compared to our rival who promotes Human superiority."

"The Schnee Dust Company." Blake suspected, the man nodding in agreement.

"Indeed." The Faunus pet his ears. "I don't make it a constant thing to show my ears. Life is better if they are hidden. As much as I dislike it."

"I understand." Blake twitched her ears under her ribbon.

"I see." Menteur nodded in understanding.

The telephone rang at the side of his desk, dark black in color. The CEO plucked the device up and asked who it was before his eyes went ever so slightly wide, covering the speaker with his hand.

"Do you all mind? I am really sorry." Menteur excused himself as he spun in the chair and began to speak.

"Mhmm." Menteur hummed as the voice explained themselves, crossing his legs. "No, I don't want that. It needs to be as clear and definitive as possible."

Blake looked to Orion as he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright. Alright. I'm actually entertaining a few guests right now, so I'll have to let you go." Menteur explained as he said his goodbyes, turning back the two.

"I'm sorry about that, issues in the weapons facility." Menteur explained, laughing to himself as he shifted in his chair. "Now, is there anything else I can do to help you both?"

"It would appear we are at a dead end." Blake sighed as she shook her head. "No need. Thank you for your time."

"My pleasure." The CEO smiled warmly as he shook both of their hands once more, showing them to the elevator.

* * *

Silence.

Morris closed the door behind him as Weiss ate by herself. The former heiress wanted her alone time, and Morris could understand that perfectly. She was still recovering after all. It needed to be in baby steps.

Morris adjusted his rifle over his shoulder, cracking his neck as he heard the front doorbell suddenly go off.

Morris paused as the bell went off again, louder this time.

The special forces soldier grabbed at a radio hung at his waist, frowning as he pulled it up to mouth level.

"Metal-zero-two?" Morris asked the simple phrase, frowning when static returned back. He could have sworn a few of his squad mates were on guard. "Metal-zero-two why is the door bell going off? Who is out there?"

The front door exploded into hundreds of pieces of shrapnel, flying off across the main floor as Morris readied his rifle. The soldier fired off three consecutive shots into the smoke that followed as tear gas flew in through the windows. Morris reached for Weiss's door handle and twisted it, breaking the lock and forcing it completely shut. Reaching into his jacket, Morris produced a metal chain with a pair of tags attached, pushing it under the door.

' _Just in case._ ' He thought as he quickly re-adjusted his aim and fired off towards the source of the tear gas, striking something outside.

Three masked men laid dead at the foot of the front door, Morris reloading his rifle as he leapt off the stairs, landing on the main floor. The soldier ducked as a spray of quick SMG fire flooded the hall, nearly grazing the man as he slid behind the kitchen island. Morris looked around and grabbed the nearest object, a kitchen knife, and waited for just a minute.

Three men entered the home with weapons drawn, two bearing automatic shotguns as the other held a pistol close. Morris took a deep breath and leapt the island.

The first gunman went down as Morris trusted the knife into his chest, spinning around before using his body as a shield to protect from the other's shotgun fire, using his own shotgun against him. The man with the pistol tried to fire off a shot but Morris was too quick, grabbing the gun as it fired and ripping the slide off the top before beating the man with said object. As the tear gas failed to effect the honed soldier, Morris quickly leveled his rifle and looked to the main door.

A flash of grey bolted towards him as a young man was upon him. An axe kick downwards split his rifle in two as the greaves the man wore crashed through to the marble below. Morris flipped back and kicked a shotgun in the air, catching it before firing down at the warrior.

The greaves seemed to have deflected the shot as the man flipped in the air, firing off a projectile from the bottom of his boots. Morris was struck in the chest and sent through the wall into the other room, landing on a nearby couch.

The soldier jumped up and looked around, not seeing the man any longer before he was struck across the chest by a blade, grasping the wound in pain as he looked to his right to now see a woman with green hair. Morris spun and flipped a coffee table with his feet, sending the furniture flying towards her before it passed into her and struck the wall. Confused, Morris was hit across the back by the same blade, the girl having changed position all together.

Morris punched the girl where she stood, ending up going through her and hitting the wall, his fist ached as his Aura tried to heal the wound, only to get knocked back through the hole in the wall to the front door by the greaves.

Morris removed a grenade from his hip and lobbed it into the room, dashing up the stairs as he yanked a picture off the wall. A pistol sat behind it as he quickly readied his aim down the stairs.

A column of fire tore past him as he rolled to the side, firing off shots at a woman at the base of the stairs. The soldier growled as he waited for her to approach, standing face to face with her.

"Leave." The woman spoke, wearing a revealing red dress. Morris grit his teeth before he swung with his gun.

The woman caught his hand before he struck her across the jaw with his other hand, disorienting her for a moment as he pressed the gun to her forehead, pulling the trigger.

The bullet made contact with her skin but failed to produce any damage, having incinerated on impact. Morris blinked before she grabbed the gun and melted it in his hands, pressing him up against the wall as he struggled.

"Such a _handsome_ man..." The woman sighed as she held him by his neck, the soldier reaching for a grenade to kill them both in the explosion.

The woman saw his hand and tossed the grenade aside, lowering him to her level before kissing him passionately on the lips. Morris screams were muffled as flames tore through his body, melting him on the inside as his body slumped to the floor, smoke rising from his mouth.

"Now that was _fun_." Cinder Fall laughed as Mercury and Emerald met her at the top of the stairs. "Get the girl. And grab anything deemed useful. Don't want to keep our employers waiting, now do we?"

"Right away." Mercury laughed as he kicked down Weiss's door.

* * *

 **Coming Soon:**

 **The Woe of Fallen: Chapter 5: Loss**


	5. Loss

**The Woe of Fallen**

 **Chapter 5: Loss**

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you all enjoy! Thanks for the support!**

 **Reviews:**

 **TehUnoman: Oh? And what could that be?**

 **Setsuna Lucifer: Oh they are very much alive and plotting just as much! And who knows, will our fabled Goddesses arrive to save the day?**

 **Trewill91: But of course!**

* * *

Torn.

Blake arrived back the the house having called Morris repeatedly. The soldier failed to even set up his voicemail, leaving Blake to only hope that the older man would notice her calls and return them soon. As soon as Blake and Orion turned the corner to the street, they knew something was wrong.

The front door was busted open, the entire main floor in shreds. Orion was surprised the structure was holding as Blake bolted up the stairs, only to look away as she found Morris's corpse.

Orion flinched as he checked the body, noticing the severe temperature of Morris. His internals were through the roof, indicating combustion as the cause of death. The God placed a nearby blanket over his head and pat his shoulder, sighing as he muttered something under his breath about Dagonus.

Thunder clapped in the distance as the deity nodded his head, giving a thumbs up to nothing before he investigated Weiss's room with Blake.

Everything of value, from her the armor of Rook, the God of War, to her golden pen were missing. The room was ransacked, signs of a struggle evident.

"Whatever went down in this room, Weiss didn't go down without a fight." Orion noted as he found a small black box on the floor, raising it up to his face.

"What's this?" Orion asked as Blake paled, raising a palm.

"Something important to her." Blake sighed as she took the object, opening it up.

A large diamond ring sat within, coaxed with platinum and Dust.

"A wedding ring?" Orion asked, Blake nodding grimly.

"She was so _happy_ that day..." Blake sniffled. "She told me exactly how she planned the wedding to go. But that night..."

"The night she snapped, right?" Orion asked as he looked around the room for anything important.

"Right." Blake pocketed the box.

"If she died, it wasn't here." Orion scratched his chin. "You don't think she was kidnapped, do you?"

"Kidnapped..." Blake panicked. "Who would do that?"

"Best guess: White Fang." Orion pointed to a nearby spray on the wall of the infamous logo, sitting within a set of gears.

* * *

Pain.

Weiss shivered as she was punched across the cheek once more, shattering her jaw. Her Aura would heal it eventually, she knew this, but it still hurt like hell.

A man wearing an old worn camouflage uniform bashed her head against the wall beside her, watching as she crawled towards the corner of the steel room. The man chuckled as he grabbed her legs, stomping on her right heel as she screamed in pain. He decided enough was enough and took a step back, laughing to himself as Cinder Fall watched from the side.

"What is it that she is so important for?" Cinder asked as the man, who had introduced himself to Weiss earlier as Lieutenant Volt, cracked his knuckles. The blonde man had a pair of long fangs extending out his teeth, hissing as he spoke.

"We can get so much out of this one, Maiden." Volt addressed her as he toyed with a pair of dog tags he found on her person. "Money, leverage, and power beyond imagining."

"So the rumors are true then?" Cinder asked as the White Fang head nodded with a cackle. "She does hold Godly power."

"To an extent." Volt minimized his explanation. "My boss will be very much pleased with the outcome here, Maiden. You have earned your pay."

Cinder looked over causally to Mercury and Emerald, the girl in question tending to Mercury's nasty wound. One of his cybernetic legs was missing, broken in the battle with Weiss. Cinder had no idea how powerful the girl really was, having been told of her injured state at the time. Her mind swarmed with glee as she watched her peons argue back and forth, looking back at Weiss as she toyed with flames in her hand.

"And what would the most zealous Faunus I have ever met want with such power?" Cinder questioned as she stood beside Volt.

"To eliminate Human filth from this world." Volt shined with sick glee. "No offense, but he had promised to make some... exceptions."

"I would hope so, as your master is a brilliant man." Cinder lied through her teeth as she bit back the urge to kill Volt here and there. It was a shame her master had orders to get what the White Fang had to offer.

"And our payment would be where?" Cinder spoke like a serpent cornering its prey.

"Once we extract what we need, the map is yours." Volt stepped forwards. "He wants to meet with your personally. I wouldn't keep him waiting."

Cinder nodded and bowed, moving off to her group as Volt went back to beating Weiss to near death, trying to draw out her incredible power to see for himself.

"Come on, you little Schnee bitch!" Volt growled as he stomped on her head with his brown boot, the girl passing out from the torture almost immediately. Volt growled with frustration as he tossed the dog tags back into the room with her, locking her inside as he went to clean the blood off his clothes.

* * *

Frustration.

Blake held her Scroll as she talked to Orion in the alley behind the apartment as the police did their work. Blake didn't trust them to find anything they already hadn't, but Ozpin insisted on having the extra set of eyes in case something did manage to turn up somehow. The Faunus looked down at the electronic device and sighed, turning it to show Orion the logo from the room.

"What is so concerning about this logo to you, Blake?" Orion tilted his head in confusion as he spoke. "We beat the White Fang once, and we can do it again."

"This is different." Blake tried to explain herself, growing quite frustrated. "The logo here, it is far more sinister than just the White Fang."

"Sinister? You mean fanatical?" Orion reasoned.

"That's what I mean." Blake explained, looking worried. "Look, I worked deep within the White Fang in my time there. I learned things that put a target over my head, and when my past comes calling I have to be very, very careful about how I answer."

Orion took a minute to think.

"A signature?" Orion asked. "It's not the typical White Fang logo."

"Special division." Blake admitted, pocketing the Scroll. "And I'm very concerned as to who it belongs to."

"Got a hunch?" Orion crossed his arms.

"There were those in the White Fang who... felt that the Grimm were perhaps not our enemies. They revered them as the final evolution of the Faunus. Gods even. They wanted power to become Grimm." Blake sighed as she recalled the horrific things she saw back on Menagerie, the old island all Faunus were excommunicated to years upon years ago.

A White Fang headquarters.

"In the end, my superiors voted to remove the group from our collective. There was much infighting in the aftermath but most fled the island to reestablish themselves." Blake scrunched her brow, her ears folding down as shivers ran down her spine. "They are the monsters the White Fang fought back. It was the reason I felt we were making progress away from war."

"And you feel they may be back?" Orion asked as he took in her words.

"It's too early to tell." Blake grumbled, then looking up to his face. "I need to do some investigation. I need resources."

"What about that Jay guy?" Orion suggested after a minute of thinking, recalling the nickname for Junior, the local big-shot club owner. "Yang mentioned his usefulness before. Maybe he will be of use?"

"Good place to start as any." Blake nodded in thanks. "What are you going to do?"

"I'll head back to Kryata for now. I need to have a chat with two of my dear sisters, if you know what I mean." Orion raised two hands and made air quotes. "You know how to find me."

"Thank you, Orion." Blake nodded her head in respect as the deity waved with a cocky grin, teleporting away into nothing. Blake cracked her neck and looked up at the house once more, feeling for the wedding ring box in her pocket. Blake looked up at the sky and muttered something about her teammates before she pocketed the object once more, moving off down the nearby alleyway to the slums.

* * *

Lights.

Blake hated the pulsating light show from Juniors club. Strobe lights were one thing inside of an establishment, but outside? She wasn't into it. Yang on the other hand, Blake could understand why she liked them and this place so much.

The club smelt like straight whiskey in her opinion, her enchanted sense of smell allowing her to literally taste the air in front of her. Gagging slightly at the sheer intensity, she realized why no Faunus ever went to this establishment, if she could even call it that. It felt more like an overcrowded rave in someone's basement.

Blake was carefully monitored as she entered, a clear sign that Yang had visited as one man waved a metal detector up and down her body, confiscating her weapon, Scroll, and wallet. The guard halted her movement as she tried to enter, the man pointing down at her pocket with the wand.

"What are you hiding, sweetheart?" The man gave a toothy grin as she reflected back a scowl, narrowing her gold orbs.

"Where is Junior?" Blake demanded as the man retracted his grin, looking much more serious.

"Alright, lady, no funny stuff, ya' hear?" The guard crossed his arms as two of his buddies moved in on Blake. "Junior ain't seeing nobody today. Especially a friend of 'blondie'." He explained to the girl, his friends bore sharp red axes at their waist.

"I'm sure she'd be glad to talk to you boys about it." Blake taunted as one of the men grit his teeth. "If you'd hand me my Scroll, I could have her meet us here in no time flat."

The guard was about to holler some sort of derogatory slur when a bear of a man stepped up behind him, wearing a black dress vest over a clean white shirt. Junior wasn't having this today, not with so many customers around.

"What did I tell you boys?" Junior growled as he pushed one of his men aside. "If you idiots would stop picking fights with blondie's friends we wouldn't have so many issues!"

Shooing the men off, Junior apologized to Blake, who smiled with mild amusement. So this was her contact-to-be. Stellar.

"I need information." Blake asked the man as they both sat down at a booth, Junior popping the cap off a beer with his thumb.

"Can you be more specific?" Junior asked in a flat tone as the girl growled, a water quickly delivered to the table for her.

Blake toyed with the straw. Yang had told her all of the buttons to push to get what she wanted from the club owner once upon a time, and she was more than inclined to pull out all the stops to get what she wanted. This was about Weiss after all, as much as she detested "putting out" as Yang dubbed the tactic.

"Yang told me you know practically everyone in the criminal underworld." Blake explained herself as she pursed her lips together, taking a long sip from her straw. "And I need some names."

Junior blinked as she took her sip, clearing his throat uncomfortably as she did so. The club owner nodded in understanding, taking another sip of beer.

"What names?" Junior asked as Blake pulled her head back. "Like thieves or something?"

"Anything to do with fire." Blake demanded in a rather serpent-like tone, fluttering her eyelashes as she looked directly at Juniors own confused eyes.

"U-uh." Junior messed with his collar, tapping his bottle. "Nothing comes to mind."

"Nothing at all?" Blake frowned as she pressed her finger against the top of the black straw, fiddling with it before taking another sip. "Come on Junior, help a girl out here. I'll make it worth your while."

Junior gulped as he felt his right eye twitch, fiddling with his beer. He wasn't too good when it came to this kind of attention, much to his discomfort. He always told his clients he wouldn't offer any of their names to passerby's, but this girl... and blondie...

"R-Roman! Roman Torchwick!" Junior sighed as he gave up holding the information. He had to admit, girls were not his strong suit. "He told me up and down about a woman who controls fire nearly scorching his ass way back when."

"Woman with flames?" Blake asked as Junior furiously nodded. "Well, thank you very much Junior. And where can I find Roman at this time of night?"

"D-docks!" Junior furthered. "One of the warehouses he owns. He hangs out there often. I'd look there." The bear of a man gulped. "Is that all?"

"Mhmm." Blake smiled before forcing a wink. "You have been so helpful, Junior. I'll keep Yang off your radar for a while."

Blake finished her drink before standing up and heading for the doors, reclaiming her gear as she leapt onto the nearest rooftop, dancing across buildings in a flurry of leaps and bounds.

Just a few tables away from where he two were seated moments earlier sat a swordsman twirling a golden pen in hand. His eyes narrowed in and out as he thought, forming a small smirk on his face as he pulled up his dark hood, slamming several Lein bills on the circular table before heading off.

* * *

 **Coming Soon:**

 **The Woe of Fallen: Chapter 6: Neo and Roman**


	6. Neo and Roman

**The Woe of Fallen**

 **Chapter 6: Neo and Roman**

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you enjoy!**

 **Reviews:**

 **andy2396: Oh yes she's here! And who knows who he is!**

 **Trewill91: Luckily we didn't.**

 **Rapter267: Neo has to be my favorite villain.**

* * *

Screwed.

That was how Blake would describe her current situation, being held at gunpoint by nearly eighteen armed gunmen. Had they been anything single-shot or semi-automatic, Blake felt she could have taken them. But these were very new fully automatic weapons developed by Atlas military minds, not something to laugh at.

"Oh hello again, kitty cat!" The kingpin of crime himself, Roman Torchwick, grinned as he lit his cigar, blowing a quick puff of smoke before continuing. "And how did you find yourself here, little lady?"

Blake didn't say anything, Roman clearly annoyed.

The mob boss waved his hand, causing one of the gunmen to jab her back with his gun, dropping her to her knees. "What's that, love? Cat got your tongue?"

"I want to talk." Blake spoke much to Roman's glee. He had to admit, his encounters with these kids was growing on him.

"Unless you have something to trade for my time, I'll have to show you the door. I'm a very busy man, I'm sure you understand." Roman sighed as he leaned on his cane, up on a platform above the girl.

Blake tapped her hip and pulled out a small vial from a pocket.

"Raw Dust. White. Mined from a Schnee quarry." Blake offered as one of the men took the vial, looking inside of it before nodding in approval, looking up to his boss.

"It's legit." The gunman called out as Roman formed a sinister smirk.

"Well then! It seems my schedule has freed itself up!" Roman made his way down to the floor below, Blake standing up to meet him.

Despite their bad history, Blake put all of that behind her for Weiss. She needed to find her friend. If she lost Weiss too... she wasn't sure what she would do with herself.

"I need a name and a location." Blake asked as Roman nodded his head, smoking from his cigar.

"Sure thing, kitty cat." The mob boss chuckled as he tapped his cane, the men moving off to continue to move Dust.

"So." Roman cleared his throat. "What name do you want? I'm sure I could come up with something."

"Junior told me you met a woman with flames as her weapons." Blake went on directly, getting straight into the point. She wasn't going to use any loop to get around the point. Every second she wasted was a second Weiss was missing, and she had already wasted enough time.

"Junior, eh?" Roman grit his teeth, reminding himself to pay the man a visit. Maybe with this he could squeeze out of him a handful of dopey men to utilize in his next string of heists. "Well, looks like the bear told you the truth for once."

"Who is she?" Blake demanded as she crossed her arms, watching Roman carefully.

"What she is, now that's easier to explain. She's the most powerful person I have had the horrifying luxury of working for. I mean, I know Maidens are supposed to be all powerful, but her? Now that's something different." Roman explained. "As for her name, try Cinder Fall. Doubt it rings any bells. She's a rather hidden gem among the criminal underworld, if I can call her that."

Blake thought. "Cinder Fall."

"Just said that, kitty cat. Don't go echoing me." Roman sighed. "It's annoying."

"Where is she?" Blake demanded as Roman choked on his cigar smoke, gagging as he cleared his lungs.

"I got no clue, kid. Haven't seen her in years." Roman shrugged. "Only the White Fang would know where she is. They were under her employment for some time."

"The White Fang is dead." Blake lied.

"Not to be missed, mind you, kitty." Roman teased as he twirled his cane. "Her location died with their cause. The only thing I could think of is in their systems. Probably kept tabs on her, who knows. I'm just a petty crook." Roman snickered.

"That's a place to start." Blake nodded, forcing out her next words. "Thank you, Roman."

"Oh?" Roman snickered. "What? Leaving already, kitty?"

Blake froze. "It was implied, yes."

"Oh, Cinder would kill me if she found out what I told you, little lady." Roman continued to laugh sadistically, the sociopath tapping his cane. "I'm afraid I'll have to do something about that."

"We had a deal, Roman." Blake clenched her fists.

"Ah, but the deal was information for Dust." Roman grinned.

A flash of pink fell from the ceiling before colliding with Blake, the Faunus stunned before being cracked in the head by a parasol. Blake tumbled backwards in pain as her vision blurred for but a moment, eventually producing the image of a short girl with black and pink hair. Said girl had a twisted smirk imprinted on her face, Blake taking notice of the changing colors of her eyes every time she blinked. Blake knew this girl well, after all Yang had told her up and down about the ice cream girl that nearly killed her.

"Neopolitan." Blake regarded the mute girl as she tilted her head happily from side to side, almost childishly so. A miniature Ruby, Blake surmised.

"She would retort." Roman leaned on his cane. "But she has a bit of a sore throat."

Neo flashed a psychotic grin as Roman snapped his fingers, the smaller girl running towards Blake as instructed. The girl quickly slid across the flooring of the warehouse, catching one of Blake's legs by surprise with her parasol's handle, flipping her onto her back. Neo quickly reclaimed her standing and flipped backwards, slamming her knee into Blake's chest. Neo met solid ground as Blake seemed to have vanished completely, having left behind a ghostly shadow clone in her wake. The cat Faunus quickly dropped from above, Gambol Shroud in hand as she sliced the air before her. Neo weaved in and out as Blake landed, swiping left and right with her katana in a dangerous tango. Neo wore her sadistic grin consistently through the altercation, loving the battle as she hadn't had a bout with a full-fledged Huntress in years. Roman chuckled from the sidelines as Blake ran headfirst towards Neo, laughing at her idiocies.

Blake leapt out of a shadow clone and sliced twice at the air before her, missing Neo completely as she weaved ever so elegantly in and out, striking a mocking pose with glee plastered on her face.

"You can't touch her." Roman snickered. "Neo is a professional, kitty cat! You aren't a match."

Neo would have chuckled had she had the vocal cords remaining to do so, popping open her parasol over her shoulder with a smile. The insane girl's attitude faded immediately as she spotted something pink fall to the floor, eyes regarding the specimen as they altered to cotton white, blinking in confusion.

A lock of her candy hair, landing with no sound on the ground below.

Roman took a step back.

"I'm not impressed." Blake cocked back her pistol as she went to work.

* * *

Quiet.

A large family sat together at a massive dinner table fit for royalty, none speaking a single word as they ate. While not a necessary process that needed to be done to continue existence, the act was enjoyable in the very least. At the very best, a social event to gather those who would rather not partake in events together if at all possible. The family roared with a fierce and unrivaled Aura, the power of every star in the cosmos collected in one place. The group kept their powers checked by the rules of the table, less they fall to infighting by nature.

The man sat at the head of the table gently cut his prime steak with golden utensils, taking a sip of spring water from a simple glass. His ghostly white hair blew softly in the wind as every window in the massive palace stood open in a welcoming gesture to those outside.

A fluctuation of energy tore across the dining hall, a wave of brief white power pulsating in the chamber as the world rippled from a far away source. Everyone paused in their consumption and turned to the head of the table, who continued to eat as if nothing had occurred in the slightest. The elder of the room set his glass down with a resounding echo, looking around at those before him, regarding himself with both judgement and concern.

The elder sighed and looked to his right, watching as one of his sons continued with his eating, sporting mismatched hair of yellow and red. He kept a glance at his son before turning away, the others still frozen in place.

"So be it." The elder spoke with a timeless voice, his white eyes full of hope and radiating goodness.

"Father." A yellow flame sat beside him, one of his youngest in fact. Her face looked concerned, yet confident. "Should we do something?"

"Something?" The father asked in an echo as murmuring began across the massive table, sounding like bundles of frantic whispering.

"Yes. This doesn't sit well with me. It feels wrong." The flame frowned as she toyed with her fork, looking to the seat to her left, taken by a red angel.

The father looked at the angel with curiosity. "It is your act alone if you wish."

The angel spoke no words, only meeting his gaze before looking back down.

"Are you certain?" The father asked as the red angel nodded.

"Not now." The angel spoke as she continued to eat, everyone in the hall returning to their feast as the father looked back down at his own plate. With eyes currently shut, the father took a deep breath and spoke to himself, keeping his words a secret from the others.

"Resentment. Harsh reality."

The angel briefly lifted her head up before returning to her meal, everyone once more in their natural state.

* * *

Hurt.

Blake exited the warehouse with dozens of wounds across her body. Most of her coat was burnt to a crisp, including her combat attire. Limping around with her left leg lagging behind the right, the cat Faunus forced herself to move onward, clutching a flare wound to her stomach and chest. This would leave her scarred, no doubt.

The lights in the warehouse flickered and died out, leaving the docks quiet aside from the sound of her weakened footsteps as she pressed on to safety.

Blake collapsed at Pyrrha's doorstep, Jaune answering the door with the thought process of the pizza guy having delivered early. Instead of pineapple and anchovies, he was greeted with the battle scarred form of Blake Belladonna, quickly calling for help as her breathing slowed.

Whoever she fought had seriously wounded the girl.

Pyrrha carefully took the girl inside, resting her on her own bed before running off to find a medical kit.

* * *

Whimper.

Weiss sobbed to herself as she sat alone in her cell. Lieutenant Volt was a harsh, cruel man who cared not for anything remotely Human. Every time Weiss encountered the feral Faunus, all she felt was pain. Pain beyond torture. A burning inferno of hurt.

All she was given was a pair of clothes, one set included her combat dress and another being an icy gown. Whilst Lieutenant Volt was the cruelest man she had ever encountered, at least her other guards seemed to sympathize with her, granting her even the smallest of materials to get by. Even they seemed to fear the Faunus. Her gown was covered in stained crimson blood, using her old battle gear as a blanket in the cold cage she sat within. Her eyes were full of fear and pain, sobbing to herself as she was far too scared to understand why this was happening.

The girl froze her sobbing as she heard a faint whispering at the base of her mind, knowing what it entailed as she began to panic. The former heiress reached into her pocket of the gown and produced two pills, one being broken as powder was expelled from her pocket. The Schnee was overjoyed as she lapped at the powder with her tongue, gulping it down as she wiped her eyes dry with her sleeves.

The door to the chamber suddenly tore open as she pocketed the remaining pill, the faint whispering disappearing as the horrifying figure of Volt entered, holding a brass knuckle set in his hands. The heiress scooted back into the corner, whimpering as she tried to scream for help. Volt flipped a switch and summoned light into the room, locking the door behind him as two White Fang members entered in.

"Anyone mind if I get first hit?" Volt asked as neither soldier spoke, the head Faunus shrugging as he quickly moved in on the Schnee.

"No! No!" Weiss screamed as she looked to the two men in the room. "Please!"

Volt struck the girl across the face with his bare hand, chuckling as the two Faunus visibly flinched, looking away as Volt put on his brass knuckles.

"Show me your power, and the beating stops. You know the rule." Volt spoke before beating the girl across the cheek with the brass, knocking her over as she struggled to lean on the wall. Her fragile figure bled as she was hit again, then again. Volt grunted as he struck her one last time across the jaw, smirking at his handiwork before frowning.

Weiss ceased her whining and went still. Volt initially felt that she had been killed or knocked unconscious, but that appeared not to be the case as he noticed the dark flames producing from her left eye, the pupil an odd mixture of icy blue and purple. Volt took a step back as Weiss looked at the man through a black eye and thrusted forwards with a scream, sending the man flying across the chamber into a wall. The Faunus grunted as he stood up, cracking his neck as his forked tongue danced in the air.

"Good." Volt congratulated the girl. "No more beatings for tonight. If you perform the same tomorrow, then maybe for the week." Volt turned to exit the room as the flame in Weiss's eye faded to normal along with the color.

The two Faunus guards exited together, one however stopping at the door as Weiss struggled to breath. The man looked both ways before he reached into his pocket and dropped a breakfast bar down on the steel floor, giving the girl a look of guilt before he exited, locking the door on her.

Weiss crawled her way to the wrapped food, carefully cradling the snack as she made her way back to her combat uniform, covering herself up with it as she ate the bar, beginning to cry once more.

* * *

 **Coming Soon:**

 **The Woe of Fallen: Chapter 7: Damaged**


	7. Damaged

**The Woe of Fallen**

 **Chapter 7: Damaged**

* * *

 **A/N: Hey all! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Reviews:**

 **Trewill91: It will all come full circle, don't you worry!**

 **Silver Civic: Thanks! Hope you enjoy!**

 **Guest: I'll do my best. I very much appreciate the criticism. Thank you for the review!**

* * *

Sore.

That was the simplest way Blake would describe how she felt. The last thing the cat Faunus could recall was the hard impact she felt against the rough welcome mat at the foot of Jaune and Pyrrha's front door. Her brain ached with pain as nerves fired off rapidly indicating to the rest of her body that yes, their master was still alive and functioning.

The young woman lifted herself ever so slightly upwards to the ceiling above, resting her back on a propped up pillow. The girl snuggled the puffy device gently as she relaxed her muscles, noticing the bandages over her torso moments later. Her golden eyes looked around the estate of Team JNPR, graduated from Beacon and still a functioning team. She wished she had that luxury, she had to admit, and she was jealous. Not that she would ever admit it to the members or anyone in particular, as jealousy is a toxic emotion she had come to know in her previous life years upon years ago.

The girl was soon greeted by the sight of Pyrrha Nikos, star student from her class having had graduated with honors in both studies and combat. She was the pinnacle of achievement that the academy sought to develop all students into. Blake smiled slightly knowing that with all the skill she held, she was still very humble as she knew she didn't hold a candle to the power the Gods and their enemies possessed.

"How are you feeling?" Pyrrha asked as Blake felt her wounds, hissing slightly.

"I honestly could be better." Blake joked before wincing as Pyrrha put some pressure on her torso, the warrior recalling her hand quickly.

"Sorry!" Pyrrha offered as she opened up a first aid kit, pouring some alcohol on her hands as she looked up at Blake. "I need to check the bandages, okay?"

"I'll try to stay still." Blake sighed as she braced for the pain.

* * *

"What happened to you?" Pyrrha asked as she finished, having washed her hands dozens of times after redressing the damage done to her friend. Her green eyes shined with concern, and Blake suspected a hint of vengeance.

"Ran into Torchwick and the ice cream midget." Blake explained as she winced sitting up. "I faired better than they did, I assure you."

"Blake, did you...?" Pyrrha trailed off as Blake shook her head.

"I didn't kill them. But they won't be robbing banks anytime soon." Blake chuckled as she recalled dropping a crate packed full of Dust on Roman's head from a shipping crane.

"Well, I applaud your vigilantism." Pyrrha clapped in emphasis. "Rest up. You won't be going anywhere anytime soon."

"Not possible." Blake argued as she desired to move. "I need to keep looking. I'm close. I feel it."

"Remember when you were working yourself to the bone way back when? Yang told me you weren't sleeping or eating for days searching for the motives of Roman and the White Fang." Pyrrha continued as Blake regarded the girl, flinching at the name of her former teammate. "You were falling apart. You needed rest, and once you did then progress came."

"The point?" Blake asked.

"Get some rest, then stop the bad guys." Pyrrha offered. "Weiss is a strong girl, through and through. I'm sure she is fairing well on her own."

* * *

Defiant.

Weiss whimpered as Lieutenant Volt backhanded her, the girl standing with bent knees. Her body wanted to fail, but her mind wouldn't let her. She was better than this.

Volt rolled back his fist and socked her across the cheek before striking her with a boot in the gut, the girl dropping like a sack of hammers. Coughing up red matter, the former heiress got to her knees, one of her eyes flashing with a void hue.

"That's it. Show me what you've got." Volt snickered sadistically as he cracked his knuckles.

Weiss let out a sharp cry as Volt was thrown back, landing on his feet as he howled with laughter. This was just too fun for the man.

"I know you've got more than that in you, kid!" Volt taunted as he stood where he had landed. "Come on!"

Weiss pulled herself up, groaning as she struggled immensely to perform the simple task. Her body was worn to bits, she needed help. Badly.

" ** _Yes_**..." A familiar voice within the girl spoke, a dark horrific sound akin to the very void reaching out to her. She knew this voice well. It had almost been her undoing.

Xalveris, God of Destruction.

" _ **Channel my will upon the very earth, Schnee**_." The voice wavered in and out of frequency, tempting Weiss as whispers of the same echoed around her.

The former heiress clutched her head as if it were about to implode, groaning as a strange pressure was felt upon her, like the migraine to end all migraines. Her eyes both flashed with void as she began babbling incoherently, Volt raising a brow.

"Give me your gun." Volt ordered one of his subordinates, who hesitantly handed off a pistol. The lieutenant leveled the weapon and fired at her chest. The bullet hovered just mere inches from her being before being ripped apart by some invisible force.

"Interesting." Volt laughed as he tossed the weapon aside. "Very good."

Weiss shuttered as she fought back the voice of the deep, struggling to keep her hold on her own body as she felt she was being torn, replaced by what remained of the dark God.

" ** _You can't kill an aspect of reality. Where destruction exists, I still heed it's call._** " The Elder God cackled within her mind. " ** _Submit. Become one with me and I will eliminate this vermin. Give yourself to the dark_**."

"Leave me alone!" Weiss shouted as her eyes altered to a form of icy blue, shining like a lighthouse. Volt shielded his eyes from the glare before it died down, leaving the scene of a slumped over Weiss against the wall.

"One of you stay here with her. I'll be back." Volt growled as he left with a guard in tow, leaving one to watch over the girl.

The White Fang guard watched as the door shut behind him, turning his attention to the fallen snow angel behind him. She looked as if she were about to die of exhaustion. The wolf Faunus set his rifle down by the door, carefully walking over to the injured form.

"Can you hear me?" The wolf asked as Weiss whimpered, begging the voice in her head to cease. "Hey, it's going to be fine."

The wolf Faunus placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, the girl flinching as her attention was torn from the disembodied voice of Xalveris.

"I'll tell the boss you didn't wake up. He will leave you alone, at least until tomorrow." The White Fang member spoke as Weiss sniffled weakly.

"T-thank you." Weiss curled up into a ball, the voice of the God fading away.

"Do you need anything? They give us some rations and I barely eat myself." The guard rambled on before stopping.

"Some water, please." Weiss whimpered, worried this was some sort of trap.

The White Fang member exited and re-entered relatively quick, holding an icy water bottle in hand. The boy helped the former heiress into a sitting position against the wall, helping her with the drink.

"Thank you..." Weiss paused as she looked at the masked man, who didn't have any sort of identification. Other than his mixed White Fang uniform, sporting a black vest and pants instead of the white and grey, he looked just like every other terrorist in this place.

"Most of us... well, we don't have names really." The boy sighed. "I was born into this, they just kind of throw you into the mix."

"No name?" Weiss asked as she blinked a few times, reaching into her pocket very quietly.

She needed to get a pill. She had to hold off whatever Xalveris had planned.

"Yep." The guard sighed. "That's the life of a Grimoire."

"Grimoire...?" Weiss asked as she removed her hand from her hiding spot.

The unnamed soldier quickly grasped her hand as he saw it move from her back. Forcing her palm open, he notice the small pill in hand. Weiss wore a horrified look on her face. She didn't want more punishment.

"What is this?" He asked, letting go of her hand as Weiss kept the object close to her chest.

"Medicine... It's suppose to keep me... me." Weiss admitted. "It's probably why your boss hasn't broken me completely yet."

"I see." He nodded in understanding.

"Are you going to hurt me?" Weiss asked with fear on her face.

"Take your medicine. If you think it keeps whatever you did earlier away, I support that." The wolf sighed. "Trust me, I don't like this anymore than you do."

Weiss swallowed the pill with a long drink of water following. Her head ached in pain for but a few moments longer before the sensation fell away, the voice of the God totally gone.

"Everyone needs a name." Weiss looked at his wolf ears protruding from his hood. "What about Wolfy?"

"Better than nothing." Wolfy nodded, taking back the bottle. "Get some rest."

Wolfy exited the room as Weiss settled down, snuggling her clothes on the floor. Things were going down hill fast. And she had no idea how much longer she could last.

* * *

Fury.

The red angel swiped at a large distortion hovering above her in the heavens, sporting a massive scythe in hand. The rupture in reality twitched violently before collapsing in on itself, allowing her to land on her feet safe and sound.

"Very impressive." The yellow flame laughed as she clapped her hands.

"Yang, I'm trying to focus." The other Goddess responded before she suddenly dropped her scythe, clutching her head in pain. Yang jolted over in a few steps, holding the girl in her arms.

"Ruby!"

"Get **off** of me!" Ruby pushed her sister away, holding her head in hand whilst taking deep breaths. A few seconds passed before she let go, breathing deep.

"Sorry..." Ruby sighed as she regarded the fire Goddess beside her. "The headaches keep happening."

"You need to talk to Yveltal." Yang argued for the fifth time today. "You know why this is happening."

"I'm doing this to keep her safe!" Ruby grunted as she waved her hand, the scythe fading into rose petals.

"How is letting these madmen torture her keeping her safe?" Yang asked as Ruby began to walk off, following. "How is this making her better?"

"Don't lecture me about people, Yang! What about Blake?" Ruby asked as Yang froze up.

Neither had seen their counterpart since the incident with Weiss so long ago. Yang barely could remember the details of the Faunus's face. Tears began to well up as her body began to glow with a fierce flame.

"This is different!" Yang yelled, getting in her sister's face. "Weiss sacrificed so much to save us, to save everyone! To save you! Just because what happened happened doesn't mean you can just leave her there by herself!"

Ruby just listened.

"I say we storm the place. Do whatever it takes to save her. And bring her home." Yang suggested.

"That won't work." Ruby sighed. "The Xalveris problem still remains."

"We will deal with it when it happens." Yang said, grabbing her sister's shoulders.

"If we help her now, all it will do is bring him out. He wants to kill us. He wants everything dead. If he manages to take control of Weiss I don't want to be the one that has to kill her...!" Ruby stopped, tears welling up in her own eyes. "We stay the path we are on. The time to do something is going to be very clear. Until then, we can only watch."

"If that's what you think is best." Yang let the girl go, rubbing her eyes. "I'll follow you, team leader."

Ruby gave a faint smile as she and her sister made their way to the horizon ahead.


	8. Hunted

**The Woe of Fallen**

 **Chapter 8: Hunted**

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you enjoy!**

 **Reviews:**

 **TehUnoman: Very true, but Ruby does have her reasons. Keep in mind something else is going on behind the scenes.**

 **Trewill91: For sure!**

* * *

Moving.

Blake dashed across the roof tops of Vale's slums district, moving like a ninja in the dark as her cat like eyes lit up the night. She could clearly define the objects around her due to her Faunus heritage, rolling under an antenna protruding from a building before leaping towards another. She was on a mission. She refused to let her injuries slow her down.

The wounds from her battle with Torchwick and Neo would heal, Pyrrha's treatment saw to that. But after two whole nights of waiting, she refused to sit around any longer. Fleeing in the cover of night, the cat girl made her way through the city, her long ebony coat flowing in the wind behind her.

Her target was simple: an old White Fang hideout.

She knew most of their locations. The Intel that was gained when the organization fell years ago shined a light on how vast their Vale operation was. Dozens of hidden bases under her nose. She figured if she was to get any useful information about this Cinder Fall woman, she needed access to the White Fang data banks.

Dropping from the dimly lit roof tops to the streets below, Blake was the only living thing for blocks. Abandoned housing from violence and unstable police work lead to many avoiding this area of the slums. Every city had their ghosts. Vale wasn't any different. Blake closed in on her target, Gambol Shroud hooked to her back in case anything was to happen. Traps weren't likely, but she thought after so many years of no inspections, she would just bring the weapon out of caution. The cat girl felt a small shattered pillar, tracing the faded White Fang sigil on it's surface. It had been so very long.

Blake cut down the hidden security door, busting into the base as she made her way into the depths of Vale.

* * *

Comfort.

Wolfy was an interesting character, Weiss had to admit.

The Faunus told Weiss many stories whenever it was his turn to guard her. He fostered many secrets and information about this resurrected White Fang, the most notable being exactly that.

"The Grimoire Collective?" Weiss asked as she chewed on a energy bar, Wolfy leaning on the wall beside her.

"You got it." Wolfy commented, nodding under his mask. "Think of the White Fang, only more radical and hyper religious. A cult, in a sense."

"Cult? How so?" Weiss asked.

"Well, our leadership agrees with the original plans of the White Fang, to oust Humanity off the planet or at least into a submissive state. Yet, we act on more religious views." Wolfy explained. "Our leader and those before him felt the Grimm were the ultimate evolution of Man. And with these revelations of Gods in our reality, our leader seeks to use that power the Gods hold to become what we are meant to be." Wolfy cleared his throat. "That's the plan, anyways."

"Your leader must be a madman..." Weiss shuttered. "I thought Volt was in charge."

Wolfy shook his head. "Volt is but a enforcer for our boss. I've never met the man before. But Volt always looks uneasy when he gets back from his meetings. Especially with these Humans wandering the place."

"My kidnappers?" Weiss asked with a tilt of her head.

"Bingo."

"Wolfy, I know this is a lot to ask, but I need your help. You have to help me escape this place, you can even come with me." Weiss suggested, taking a sip of water.

The man shook his head sadly, thinking for a moment before speaking. "Listen Weiss, I honestly would love nothing more than to help you but you have to look at the facts here: the security in this place is insane. You're more likely to break in than break out, and that's saying something."

"I guess you're right." Weiss sighed in defeat, looking down at the floor in her cage. "What is going to happen to me?"

"Not sure." The Faunus shrugged in his own unsureness, not knowing what to tell the girl before him. He didn't want to scare her with the fact that it was most likely that she would be executed. If he knew anything about his boss, it was that he detested anything Human.

"Thank you so much for everything that you've given me. I'm very grateful." Weiss bowed her head slightly, smiling up at the man.

"It's the least I could do. We aren't all horrible people, just a vast majority." The man joked.

"That's debatable."

A hard knock on the steel door locking the former heiress inside sounded in an echo across the chamber. Weiss visibly flinched at the vibration of the metal as Wolfy quickly gathered up the food off the floor. The last thing he wanted to do was get them both caught. Lieutenant Volt entered the room moments later with two guards in tow, a sinister smirk across his face. He look like something out of a horror movie, perhaps a slasher film. Chills ran down Weiss's spine, instinctively crawling towards the corner of the room out of fear that she would be harmed in someway. Seeing this, the esteemed Lieutenant chuckled to himself as he approached the girl.

"Guess what Schnee?" The horrific man asked, smirking with a forked tongue. "The boss is giving me permission to do whatever it takes to bring out the power you hold inside. Whatever it takes."

Weiss allowed a small whimper to escape her throat, eyes entirely filled with fear as she looked up at the man before her. She had never known this kind of fear in her entire life since her battles with the likes of Rook, the God of War and Xalveris himself.

"I hope you're ready for a full day of fun, princess." The snake hissed with glee as he cracked his fists, ready for another beating.

* * *

Chilly.

The cold air in the depths of the base nipped at the cat girl's ears as she sunk lower and lower into the earth. She had no idea how deep this place went, nor what worked inside after all of these years. She had seen what horrors the organization could come up with.

Shadows danced around her as she was greeted with a massive steel door, looking around for some sort of access panel to open it. Everything here seemed ancient to the train to warrior, yet everything seem to be coming back to her from her years in service with the terrorist group. She had been quite the idealist at the time, as she still was today. Yet a little bit more reserved.

Tapping a green glowing button on the display beside her, the girl entered into the dark catacombs within the walls of the facility. Evil lurked in here, she could sense it. It clawed her very soul, nibbling at her worst fears. A clatter of cans or some sort of metal or glass snapped her from her thoughts as she quickly looked around with her night vision, panicking for a minute before calming down as nothing amiss was around her. Relaxed, the girl quickly made her way deeper into the facility, taking a deep breath of the stale air. She would find what she was looking for, and if not she would tear Vale apart to find her friend. She would not lose the only family she had left.

Coming up upon what seemed to be the command center of the base, the cat girl quickly found the nearest light switch. Flipping the control up, the world around her lit up to reveal an array of technology set before her. From computers to massive data managers in the form of blocky servers caged in the back of the chamber, she was sitting atop of a wellspring of intelligence. A small smile threatened to grow and develop upon her face as she quickly blew a sheet of dust off of what appeared to be the main monitor at the center of the room. Sitting down in a broken office chair, the girl tap the way at the keys on the keyboard set before her.

"Where is it?" Blake muttered to herself as she scrolled through files upon files of intelligence recorded by the late organization. It had to be here, she knew it. She felt it in her gut. There had to be something on Cinder. A location, family, friends. Something. Something to go off of. That's all she wanted.

"Looking for something, are we now?" A gruff voice sounded from one of the corners of the room. Blake quickly flipped from the chair and drew her blade, scanning the data center for whoever spoke just now.

"Put the weapon down kid, let's not make a mess of things." The voice sounded again. Blake knew this voice, she thought at least. It was one she hadn't heard in so long, if she knew it at all.

Stepping out from behind one of the data servers with a walking stick in hand, an older man entered into the light and field of vision of Blake. A weathered suit that looked as if it had been bathed in acid sat upon his back. A series of golden pens sat in his breast pocket of said suit, looking equally as damaged. A pair of double mechanical eyes, both dull and colorful, regarded the girl across the room. A small flash drive was leveled in an open palm and his free hand, waving the device towards the girl. Grinning, a small yet very noticeable smile drew across his face.

"Nice to see you again, Blake." Saturn Laos, the most dangerous man the woman had ever met, gave a small nod out of respect. "How can I be of assistance?"


	9. Saturn

**The Woe of Fallen**

 **Chapter 9: Saturn**

 **A/N: Hope you all enjoy!**

 **Reviews:**

 **Trewill91: It's always a treat to see him!**

* * *

Unnerved.

Saturn Laos had that effect on people. The master assassin and former crime lord of Vale was not one to be trifled with. Having nearly killed Ruby Rose years prior, the man had been a thorn in team RWBY's side for months before he was eventually defeated by Weiss and Ruby for good. Leaving him blind to the world, he was granted his vision once again under the terms he would work with the group of girls against both Dagonus and Xalveris during the invasion of Vale. The last Blake had seen of him was when he spoke to Weiss before disappearing into the city. Honestly, the Faunus thought him dead.

"Saturn..." Blake took a step back, keeping Gambol Shroud in hand.

The pragmatic assassin chuckled as he gave a calming gesture with outstretched arms. "Come my dear girl, if I was going to kill you, you would already be dead."

"Uh huh." Blake sounded as she kept her weapon leveled.

"Here." Saturn tossed a sniper rifle slung over his shoulders to the side, arms out stretched. "See? No harm."

Blake hesitated before lowering her weapon.

"Good. Now that we are friends again-"

"We were never friends. Mere acquaintances, is all." Blake corrected.

The man went on. "Regardless, you seem to need my help, little lady."

Blake looked at the drive in hand. "What is that?"

"Cinder Fall. All the data on the woman. She has quite the record." Saturn noted as he tossed the drive across the room, Blake reacting quickly and jumping to catch it. The Faunus held the drive close to her heart.

"You're welcome." Saturn sighed. "I'm not a bad guy or whatever it is you think, Belladonna. I'm a changed man."

"Didn't you try to kill us numerous times?" Blake raised a brow.

"All in the past!" Saturn's robotic eyes churned. "Besides, I think we are even, no?"

"No." Blake bluntly said. "Why are you even here?"

Saturn took offense. "I come to offer aid to a dear friend and you question my intentions?"

"Enough games. I'm a busy woman." Blake narrowed her eyes.

"I've been scoping the city out. I over heard what happened to Weiss and have been doing my own field work, believe it or not." Saturn stated proudly. "Hence the drive you hold now."

"Why?" Blake simply asked.

"Weiss is... a close friend. I'll be dammed if I am to allow her to be slain." Saturn commented, cracking his stiff neck. "Besides, she owes me quite the sum of money."

"Of course she does." Blake sighed. "I don't need your help. I am fine on my own."

"On the contrary, you may need my assistance after all." Saturn cleared his throat as he nudged his head towards something behind Blake.

The cat Faunus leapt into the air just as a massive mechanical paw swiped down at the girl. A lock of her hair dropped to the floor with a few dabs of blood. The girl felt the base of her head and winced in pain, regarding the massive cybernetic creature before her.

She had seen the horrific experiments the White Fang had developed, and these cyber-Grimm were of the most concerning. The fact that this one still functioned surprised the Huntress, gripping her katana tightly in her grasp. Her blade reflected the image of the silver beast who began to roar out in defiance to her presence. Charging like a lightening bolt, the monster swiped at the Faunus.

Before Blake could even react, the monster was flung across the room with a crack of a gun. It's body laid silent against the far wall as black smoke began to float upwards to the sky, leaving a husk of armor in the wake. Blake turned to see Saturn holding his trademarked sniper in hand, his mechanical eyes adjusting.

"I should say thank you." Blake sheathed her blade.

"Let me help, Belladonna. We both have the same goal, more or less." Saturn smirked. "Let us help one another."

"If it's for her, then fine. I'll allow you to assist." Blake sighed. "What is on this drive?"

"I already took a read." Saturn noted. "It would seem this Cinder Fall happens to have deep roots with the White Fang. Some agent named Adam worked with her for a time before she became more powerful, and the most recent report, years ago, stated she was under the employment of one Isaac Menteur."

"Who?" Blake froze. "What did you say?"

"So you have met the man too." Saturn nodded. "It would seem Weiss is in deep water."

"Who... what is he?" Blake demanded. Right under her nose! She was so close all along!

"I assume you're familiar with the Grimoire Collective?" Saturn asked as Blake felt all of this coming back to haunt her. Her past never ceased to naw at her soul.

"Y-yes." Blake shook her head. "Fanatical. Evil."

"Well, our dear friend Menteur happens to be our newly found adversary." Saturn crossed his arms. "He has quite the record."

"We need to get to Origin. Now." Blake turned to leave.

"You seriously expect to storm Origin Industries?" Saturn asked with a sinister chuckle.

"I don't get what is so hilarious." Blake glared.

Saturn began to follow. "Fine. Impossible assault on a fortress filled with resurrected White Fang religious fanatics. Now this is why I love to hang out with you kids."

* * *

Worried.

Weiss hadn't seen Wolfy in a good while. After her latest beating, Volt had taken the young guard out to have a chat with his other men, leaving Weiss alone to her thoughts and bruises. She carefully examined her clothes pockets for any residue of her medicine.

Nothing. Fantastic.

Weiss could hear distant whispering, one she knew wouldn't stay far for long. Her mind ached with fear and cried with fury. Yet she could do nothing. Embracing her emotion now would be detrimental to her future. She didn't want to be a slave to Xalveris, a prison, any longer. She wanted to be Weiss Schnee again.

The steel door opened up as a White Fang agent was suddenly shoved in, landing on the floor with a thud. Volt stood behind the member with a sly smirk, holding a gun leveled to his hip.

"So you're awake. Good." Volt commented. "I would hate for you to miss the show."

Volt pointed the gun at the White Fang member, the man in question breathing harshly as if he had just ran a mile.

"Mask off." Volt ordered as the member did as instructed.

Wolfy hissed as one of his eyes was covered in red crimson matter. He had been beaten, clearly, by the lieutenant. Weiss held her breath as Wolfy looked over at her through one good eye.

"I'm sorry, Weiss." Wolfy gasped in pain.

Another man stood at the door way, one radiating authority as he waved Volt on in a gesture of command.

"Traitor." Volt spoke low as he fired off a shot from his magnum.

"No!" Weiss cried out as she looked away, sobbing into her hands. "No!"

"Excellent work, Volt." The presumed leader of the group nodded his head, moving forward. Kicking aside the body of Wolfy, the well dressed man cleared his throat above Weiss.

"Miss Schnee?" He asked as Weiss looked up hesitantly. "I am Isaac Menteur, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Let me go! I didn't do anything to you people!" Weiss cried out as she continued to sob.

"Do not dare to order me around, filth!" Menteur demanded as he grabbed ahold of her by the neck. "I make the rules here, and until you give me what I want I'll torture you, spill your blood, and beat you mercilessly until you can't even remember your own name."

"Come Volt, let us be on our way." Menteur dropped Weiss as he exited the chamber.

Volt exited and slammed the door shut. Weiss continued to cry as her only friend within the walls was now gone. Taken from her, just like the rest of her life.

" _ **Come, Schnee**_." The disembodied voice of Xalveris whispered more clearly. " ** _His death was needless. Embrace my power, and let us purge the weak._** "

"Purge them..." Weiss whispered to herself, cradling her head between her knees. "Make them pay?"

" _ **Yes, my dear girl**_." Xalveris flirted his words to soothe the former heiress. His influence was like alcohol, dragging the girl deep into his fold as her emotions got the better of her. " _ **We will make them pay.**_ "

"Pay." Weiss lifted her head up, her eyes flaring to life with a deep void fire lapping at the air around her. "They will _pay_."

" _ **Indeed**_." Xalveris formed a sinister smile across Weiss's face. " ** _Let us work together, let us show these Mortal's our power._** "

Weiss felt as if she were in a dream, so calm. Everything felt so... good.

"Power." Weiss sighed happily, her features morphing to a more serious one but a second later. "Show them **_power_**."

* * *

Fear.

Ruby froze in place as Yang dropped down the large ancient oak the duo were manually transporting. Something was still odd in the heavens, tampering with their powers. The red head seemed to be in a daze before shaking the feeling away, considering her options.

"What's up?" Yang asked curiously, her sister just standing there as if frozen.

"The time to act is now, Yang." Ruby nodded her head. "We need to get ready."

"Why now? What happened to waiting it out?" Yang asked with a raised brow.

"We needed to wait for the first move of the enemy." Ruby answered cryptically, crossing her arms over her chest. "Now that their move is done, our turn is here."

"You think you know who is behind all this?" Yang asked.

"Not yet. If these neo-White Fang are acting on their own then that's one thing, but recruiting those Humans to kidnap Weiss... I still don't get it." Ruby sighed. "Someone is working behind the scenes."

"You positive?" Yang inquired as Ruby nodded.

"One-hundred percent." Ruby confirmed, looking down through the sheet of invulnerable glass below her feet at the earth below. "It's time to go _home_."


	10. Storm

**The Woe of Fallen**

 **Chapter 10: Storm**

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 **A/N: Another chapter! Hope you all enjoy!**

 **Side Note: Yes, before you ask characters introduced in Volume 4 will appear. This is intentional, as after a while of thought I wanted to hold back on posting the majority of this story to see what would come up, and it fits very well so far with what I have planned.**

 **On to the review(s):**

 **GrnDrgnzrd: Love the name! Who knows what did tip her off! We will see soon enough! And yes, she may have to!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Spiteful.

Blake adjusted her coat as she made her way down the long strip towards Origin Industries. This whole time, it had been under her nose. She had the nagging feeling something was wrong from the start when all of the weapons of Dagonus's demon army went missing under Origin Industries's care, but she didn't want to think that yet another organization of Faunus were monsters.

Saturn cracked his neck as he followed the girl. He was certainly getting older, but he still was as agile as he once was. His battle scars remained as firm as his resolve. A sniper slung over his shoulder, the marksmen narrowed his robotic eyes on the tower before him. Origin Industries was truly a massive complex, housing its own private security forces by nature, as many other businesses partake in, in addition to the White Fang presence. He liked a challenge, and this would definitely be one. Fighting their way through the fortress would be one thing, but finding Weiss and getting out would be another all together.

"This is going to be interesting." Saturn noted as they approached the entrance, sighing as he moved.

"Just don't get in my way." Blake replied back in a snarky tone, her bow fluttering in the wind.

"If anything, you will be in my way." Saturn laughed as he withdrew four golden pens from his breast pocket.

Entering through the main doors, the pair of Human and Faunus both made their way to the front desk, Blake extremely on edge as they approached.

"Hello!" A deer Faunus woman smiled happily. "How can I assist you two?"

"We need to see Menteur." Saturn smiled cockily, leaning on the table.

"He is a very busy man. I can take your names and schedule an appointment, though." The woman offered as she reached for something under her desk.

Saturn moved like a blur. One moment he was leaning on the desk, then the next he was on top of it, a golden katana in hand was the deer's own flew off with a small pistol in hand. The woman dropped to the floor in pain as employees quickly bolted to nearby exits.

" _Saturn_!" Blake called out as she pulled forth her katana.

"What?" Saturn sighed, tossing two pens in the air which unfolded into swords, catching them with a pair of ghostly hands extending from his upper back. "Hey, she was going for a gun! No one in this building is innocent."

Blake carefully watched as the upper balcony began to fill up with marksmen, red laser sights targeting both the girl and the older man. Swordsmen entered through previously locked doors, surrounding the pair of intruders in a massive ring.

"Just like old times, right Blake?" The assassin laughed in glee, twirling his blades in hand.

Blake just sighed and twirled her own sword as she wrapped her ribbon around her wrist.

"Try and keep up, old man." Blake finally let a small smile trickle from her lips.

Saturn smiled and looked around at the surrounding White Fang.

"All right, boys. En garde!"

* * *

Quiet.

The chamber Weiss sat in grew extremely cold in the small time that she had been alone. She knew Volt would be coming soon, and for once in her time being here, she looked forward to it.

As if on cue, the Lieutenant of the White Fang or the Grimoire Collective or whatever this organization was slid open the steel door locking Weiss inside. A magnum in hand, her would be executioner took a few steps towards her with a horrific smile across his face. The snake Faunus knew his orders. She would give them what they wanted, or what his boss wanted rather, and then she would die like the rest of Humanity.

"All right, kid." Volt cracked his neck as he stopped in his tracks, leveling his gun towards the girl. "I'm afraid this may be the last time we get to have our little chat."

Weiss sat in silence.

Volt raised a brow out of curiosity, unsure as to why she was being so quiet. Normally just the mere presence of the man would be enough to have her shaking in her designer boots, but now she seemed different. Unnerved, Volt moved a little closer towards the still girl.

"Tell me." Weiss suddenly spoke as Volt came to a stop. "Have you ever wondered what it's like to die?"

Volt wore a look of absolute confusion. "What are you talking about, Schnee?"

" _Death_. Isn't it obvious?" The former heiress spoke, standing up slowly. Her flaring eyes of void energy lit up the rather dull chamber. "Would you like to experience it?"

Volt aimed his weapon towards the girl before him. As tough as he was, she was seriously starting to freak him out. She had never acted like this in the entirety of her time spent at this lovely establishment.

"Quiet." Volt ordered. The armed man could notice the trembling in his hand as he looked down the sight of his gun. The temperature in the room was growing frigid, and he could've sworn that there were icicles beginning to form in various sections of the hall they resided in. Snowflakes, as if he were intoxicated, flew past his vision like a flash. His body grew heavy with a strange pressure the likes of which he had never felt before.

"No." Weiss lifted her head up, a crooked smile stretched unnaturally across her face. "I am in control, and now..."

Volt seized up as the gun in his hand froze into a solid block of ice, trapping his hand in the icy prison. Taking a step back, he was met with a frozen wall behind him.

"You are the prisoner, and I the executioner." Weiss's voice sounded disembodied, laughing sadistically as she raised both hands.

The air around the Faunus began to grow white as the oxygen was replaced by snow. Locked in place by the miniature blizzard, the man could only scream for so long before his lungs gave out and became frozen from the inside out. Weiss lowered her hands gently as she examined the frozen being before her, snapping her fingers in one motion.

The Faunus ceased to be, now merely a block of ice.

Weiss dragged her weak body to the door, placing a hand against the texture. The wall began to fracture as the door suddenly was flung from its hinges, crushing a pair of guards. Alone again, Weiss made her way to the nearby armory, locating what was hers.

"Our sword." Weiss plucked up her trademarked rapier, noticing many other things belonging to her. Gathering her items, the former heiress exited the chamber and located the exit, accessing the elevator system, and raising to the earth above.

* * *

Concern.

Menteur watched from the safety of his office down at the explosions below. The battle with the intruders, one of which he knew, was not something unexpected. What was unexpected, however, was the sheer damage they inflicted on his men. He thought the Huntress a push over, and this strange swordsman seemed ancient.

"Would you like us to intervene?" Cinder Fall asked, sitting calmly in his office chair as her two loyal followers bickered over the state of the battle below them.

"It is what I am paying you for." Menteur spat.

"Seeing as you haven't paid us our due, I am afraid I can no longer assist in the matter." Cinder toyed her words like a cat to yarn.

"The map." Menteur growled. "It's yours. Just stop these pests."

"Considering your Semblance, I am surprised you can not do it yourself." Cinder sighed as she nodded her head. "If they manage to reach this floor, we are all yours."

Leveling an open palm, Cinder waited for her prize.

Menteur growled as he reached into his suit, flinging a Scroll towards her. The Fall Maiden twirled the data tablet in hand before hooking it to her hip with a click.

"Emerald. Mercury." Cinder spoke. "Make ready."

* * *

Whirlwind.

That's how Blake would describe Saturn's fighting style.

The older assassin rotated almost like a spinning top. Thanks to his two ghostly Semblance hands, he tore through the opposition while simultaneously deflecting any sort of assault towards his being. He was almost invincible, in a sense.

The crack of a sniper on the third floor allowed Blake just enough reaction time to swing her blade to the right, catching the round in the air before it could reach her head. Shadow Clones were everywhere as Blake weaved in and out of gunfire and swordplay.

The distant crack of metal and glass drew her attention as the floor under her suddenly exploded in a colossal fireball. Falling to the safety of the nearby staircase, Blake watched as a portion of the ground floor sunk into the depths of the earth. A blazing inferno resembling Hell itself sat below, consuming all it but touched. White Fang and furniture tumbled to the pit, Blake regaining her composure and bolting up the stairs. Saturn was nowhere to be seen, but she couldn't worry about that now.

Another explosion rocked the complex as she reached the second floor. Dropping Gambol Shroud, Blake was surrounded by the remaining marksmen before her.

Within a flash of light, all of the men went tumbling over the safety railing and into the pit below. Saturn Laos stood with his Guardians holding him above ground, twin blades in his real hands.

"We must keep moving." Saturn spoke as the building shook. "This place will implode soon enough."

Blake answered with a nod, dashing across the floor and reclaiming her blade.

A metal clad-booted man turned the corner before the pair leading up to the upper levels. His nearly all grey outfit and cocky look across his face caused Blake to pause in step. The new arrival looked tough, very tough.

"Playtime's over, kiddo and gramps." Mercury took a combat stance. "If the boss wants you guys out of the picture, then so be it."

* * *

Anger.

Weiss couldn't even tell what she was really doing. Everything felt surreal to her, as if she were trapped in a dream. Something was amiss, she knew this, but could do nothing about it.

Another wall blocking her path detonated in a fiery explosion. She was almost unstoppable, blowing past anything in her way. Structures collapsing above her simply bounced off an invisible barrier of energy surrounding her body. Invulnerable as it seemed, the possessed girl made her way up the wreckage to the ground floor of the complex.

A battle was raging on above her, some man wielding greaves was in deep combat with Blake while a green haired woman sliced with bladed pistols against Saturn. Weiss stumbled back for a moment on her rampage, holding her head with a trembling right hand.

"Blake? Saturn?" Weiss asked in her normal voice as she shuttered violently.

" _ **Leave them be, Schnee. You wanted revenge, we must press on to do so, my vessel**._ " Xalveris cooed as Weiss held her head in a firm grip.

"N-no!" Weiss growled and groaned. "Get out of my head! Stop tempting me!"

" ** _It's far too late for that, Schnee._** " Xalveris cackled. " ** _Simply be glad I am allowing you the gratification of slaying your captors before I complete my work._** "

Weiss stumbled to the side as her left hand raised her rapier on its own. Weiss struggled with her right hand to keep the blade down as the Dust chamber rotated, leveling the blade towards the battle above.

"Leave me alone!" Weiss screamed as she forced her hand down, the red arc of Dust that would have flown towards the combatants screamed into the ground below her, sending her flying against a wall nearby.

Blake looked down to the explosion and froze, as did the others.

"Weiss!" Blake called out, shooing Mercury away with a spray of gunfire.

"Em!" Mercury called out to his comrade as the pair suddenly went invisible, Saturn growling as he searched the area before leaping down with Blake to a platform below.

"Weiss!" Blake cradled the groaning girl in her arms, taking her into a deep hug. "I'm so glad you're alright!"

"He is trying to take over!" Weiss groaned out in pain, her eyes flashing to life with void. "H-help me!"

The ground shook as Saturn reacted quickly, raising his Guardians upwards to catch a massive chunk of the elevator shaft.

"Whatever we are doing we need to do it fast!" Saturn struggled to hold the weight

Blake felt her pockets, and as luck would have it, produced a small baggy. A few samples of the medicine she was given rested in a plastic sack, handing it quickly to Weiss. The former heiress tore the parcel to shreds, quickly swallowing one of the pills.

Her being relaxed quickly as Xalveris screamed out in anger, fading away into the very depths of her mind. Blake quickly lifted the injured girl up and moved her out of the way safely as Saturn shifted, dropping down the metal. The platform they stood on shook before tumbling down, the three leaping to the stairwell and ascending to safety.

"We need to get out of here. This place is about to collapse." Blake decided as Weiss caught her breath for once and what felt like an eternity. Saturn nodded his head in agreement, but paused as he saw Weiss raise a hand in a need to comment.

"We aren't leaving yet." Weiss decided. "The head of the White Fang is still in the building to my knowledge, and we have a chance to take them out and end this for good."

Saturn sighed. "She does have a point."

Blake looked around at all of the wreckage surrounding them as the metal in the walls began to groan as flames lapped at them. Looking Weiss in the eye, she could clearly see the intent she held.

"Fine. But the moment this place starts to go down we leave, with or without taking him out. I came here for you, not for them." Blake handed Weiss's rapier to its owner.

Arriving at the doors to the office of Menteur, the trio caught breath. It was a long climb to the chamber's of the Origin Industries CEO, and a long time coming for Weiss. She barely got a chance to meet the man behind her beatings, and she wanted a little chat.

"Looks like you all didn't get the memo." Mercury spoke from behind the group, arms crossed as Emerald stood at his side.

"Stand down." Blake demanded, hand on her blade. "Weiss, stay behind me."

Weiss nodded and took a step back, Saturn drawing his blades.

Emerald smiled. "This should be fun."

"Indeed." A woman in red appeared behind the two minions. "Let's give our host a good fight."

On Cinder's final word, a barrier of reinforced glass appeared behind Blake, locking Weiss out of the arena they had formed. Blake turned immediately and slashed with her blade to no avail.

"It's Dust infused." Menteur commented as he appeared from behind his desk, arms clasped behind his back as he looked Weiss over once more. "I am still unimpressed. You managed to slay Gods yet here you stand weak and battered."

Weiss winced as a sharp pain threatened her arm where she had fallen on, gritting her teeth as the Faunus before her stood composed.

"Hang on Weiss!" Blake shouted before a clash of blades drew her attention to the trio of warriors before her, Saturn holding off both Mercury and Emerald on his own.

"I could use some assistance!" Saturn grunted as he smacked Mercury aside, focusing on Emerald.

"Come, dear Huntress." Cinder spoke as her eyes flashed with power, smiling towards the cat girl. "Witness the extent of the Fall."

Weiss used her rapier to stand, looking over her opponent with a look of defiance. Sure she was tired and hurt, but she refused to go down without a fight.

"The Collective will resurrect the White Fang, Schnee." Menteur threatened, pulling forth a long combat knife. Weiss was taken aback suddenly as he turned the blade on himself, cutting a line in his upper torso. Blood dripped to the floor below as he grunted in pain, beginning to laugh soon after.

"You refuse to show your powers." Menteur smiled. "Let me show you mine."

Menteur groaned in pain as his body morphed drastically, his bone structure changing grotesquely as he shuttered. Pale white bone pieces exited the wound, the size and shape of a sharks tooth, hovering in the air in a perfect line. Defying gravity, the shards of his being snaked through the air with ease, coming to a rest in his palm in a coil,

"My Barrage will take care of you, and your friends." Menteur howled a laugh, smiling towards Weiss. "Let us begin."

* * *

 **Coming Soon: Chapter 11: War**


End file.
